Janice VanCleave's Engineering for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Science Fun

Janice VanCleave's experiment series books are good. They are easy to do, plenty of experiments per book to choose from and give descriptions as to what the experiment mimics. They are not meant to be overly complicated and comprehensive, but, that's what works for us, and I like that most of the experiments don't require specialty items. We use them as part of our homeschool curriculum.

By the time my son was 6, he had already completed a number of boxed science kits and they were pretty much all the same fare: mostly polymers absorbing water. When we opened his newest science kit for 1st grade, it contained essentially the same stuff yet again - not a single experiment in the box was new. I gave the kit away and looked for something that would challenge my son and be fun to him. As a science teacher, I had picked up a number of experiment books over the years so I went to my library, but when I actually took the time to look through those books, they were ALL fails. The books focused on art more than science or had boring observations of a leaf over weeks and weeks. Needless to say I will be getting rid of a number of these books. So in desperation, I finally picked up Engineering for Every Kid. I assumed this book was not an option because it would be way over his head. BUT - I was pleasantly surprised that ALL of the experiments are easily doable and understandable for a 7 year old STEM obsessed boy. Yes, the vocabulary in the introductions is above his grade level - but with a little explanation from his mommy, its going to be better for him to hear real science terms, than having it watered down pointless science. No offense meant, but we have a common core science workbook that is good for practice writing, but its content is SO basic that its mind numbing to my son who learned all that info at like age 3 or 4. Engineering for Every Kid saved our school year from being a boring disaster. We will skip a couple experiments, just because I did not think the experiment or topic was worth the effort. I am going to buy more science books like this in future. The only things I had to purchase for the experiments were a ping pong ball, slinky, and a noisy timer.

I have a science-minded friend review this book before I started with it for my sons. He was quite enthused and said all the concepts taught were sound, and all but 2 of the experiments would be well worth your time and correctly reinforce the concepts being discussed. So nice to find a reliable resource. My sons are itching to begin!

grandson liked this. please encourage children to learn all they can, especially if they have a knack or interest in a particular subject. nourish their minds as well as their bodies! they are our future!

Grandson (10 yr old) and his Daddy engineer loved this book!

This teaches basic concepts by means of demonstration with household items, so you don't have to go buy a science kit to teach or learn science! This is not for standalone curriculuum, since it doesn't give enough info to the non-science person to thoroughly teach the concepts, but it's great as supplemental to a text. Mechanical engineering science is also great for teaching logic.

Great item to supplement children's school textbooks.

I would say the book is not as practical as you wish it could be. I wanted to create activities for my children, but many of the experiments are just not exciting for children. They are used to KiwiCo crates, and I was trying to come up with our own experience, but it's difficult and costly to get materials, and some of the experiments seem pointless, deprived of exciting outcome. Would not recommend. Look else where.

This little engineering book is worth the money. It introduces you to the different types of engineering (some of which you may not have known existed under the engineering umbrella). It give an easy to understand lesson (but not too easy to be boring) for each type; good diagrams; a little experiment to help understand the concept, with easy to obtain items around the home; some questions, and answers. Each chapter is just a few pages, and covers a different engineering field. I would buy her other books based on this one. Very happy with the purchase.

A little bit too deep for elementary students. Hopefully, my kids can pick it up again in high school. Good book.

Got this as a present for my niece.She's 11 and is chuffed to bits with it.Not a bad price, looks like it will keep her entertained for a while....

Good book for my son!

Bought this for my neice and family friends - they are roughly 8 years old. They all love it! It really captured their imaginations!