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Activity

Egg Drop Protection Challenge

Build a container that keeps a raw egg from cracking when it falls from shoulder height.

Ages
8–13
Duration
60 minutes

What kids build

A padded capsule built from cardboard, straws, and cushioning that carries a raw egg through a drop from shoulder height, along with a written prediction and a scored result.

Materials we bring

How we run it

  1. 01 Set up tables with materials for each team.
  2. 02 Tell kids they are engineers today and their mission is to build a container that keeps a raw egg from cracking when it drops from shoulder height. Every team drops from the same height so the test stays fair.
  3. 03 Before building anything, give teams about 10 minutes to sketch a design on paper. Where does the egg sit? What surrounds it to soak up the impact? How do you keep it from rolling around?
  4. 04 Build the container. Crumple padding, inflate balloons, or layer cotton balls to make a soft nest, then set the egg in the center so it cannot shift.
  5. 05 Close the container and secure it with tape, rubber bands, or string so the egg stays put during the fall.
  6. 06 Write your team name on the outside with a marker.
  7. 07 Before the drop, have each team predict out loud. Will the egg survive? Which part of the design does the most work? What might go wrong? Write the prediction down.
  8. 08 An adult holds each container at shoulder height, about 5 feet, over a tarp or outside. Everyone stands back from the drop zone.
  9. 09 On the count of three, release the container. No throwing. Let gravity do the work.
  10. 10 Open the container carefully and check the egg. Even a hairline crack counts. Score it if you like, 3 points for fully intact down to 0 for fully broken.
  11. 11 Compare designs. Whose egg survived, and what did the winning teams do differently? Let teams change one thing and drop again if there is time.

Kids design and build a protective capsule from cardboard, straws, balloons, and padding, then drop a raw egg from shoulder height to see if it survives. They sketch first, predict what will happen, run the drop, and inspect for cracks. Whether the egg lives or splats, they learn how cushioning stretches out an impact, and they get one redesign to prove it.

Real-world connection

The same trick that protects your head in a helmet

When the egg hits the ground, all of its falling energy has to go somewhere in an instant. Soft padding works by spreading that impact over a longer moment, which drops the peak force the egg actually feels. It is the same reason a bike helmet has crushable foam inside and a car has crumple zones up front. Engineers even use the idea to land spacecraft, cushioning the touchdown so the delicate instruments survive.

Go deeper

Extension ideas

Raise the stakes

Once every team's egg has survived one drop, raise the height. A drop from a balcony or the top of a ladder puts far more energy into the landing. Which designs still hold up?

One redesign rule

Give teams a chance to change one thing after the first drop and test again. Changing a single variable at a time is exactly how real engineers work out what actually made the difference.

When we have run this

Scheduled and past visits

Past

  • JUL 2 2026

    Thursday, July 2

    Completed

    Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center

    Kids designed and built protective capsules from cardboard, straws, and cushioning, then dropped a raw egg from shoulder height to see whose design survived. They sketched a plan first, predicted what would happen, and inspected for cracks after the fall, learning how padding spreads an impact out over time the way airbags and bike helmets do.

Bring this to your space

Want the Egg Drop Protection Challenge at your library or school?

Tell us your space, your age range, and rough timing. We will come to you. Materials are on us.

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