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Making and Tinkering with STEM: Solving Design Challenges with Young Children, Second Edition

Table full of tinkering materials like blocks, straws, counting cubes, clothespins, and more

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Cate Heroman

Where Picture Books Meet Problem Solving

Imagine turning story time into hands-on exploration. What could you build to help the three billy goats cross the bridge? How might you make a shadow dance across the wall? Making and Tinkering with STEM: Solving Design Challenges with Young Children invites educators to use children’s favorite stories as a launchpad for creativity, curiosity, and joyful STEM learning.

In this updated and expanded second edition, Cate Heroman makes teaching and learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts engaging, inclusive, and easy to implement through the maker movement, a hands-on approach rooted in designing, building, and inventing. Using picture books as inspiration, teachers guide children to imagine, plan, and create solutions to the challenges faced by story characters.

Inside you’ll find:

  • 35 design challenges for children ages 3–8, including refreshed favorites and brand-new additions
  • 140 picture books that spark STEM-rich exploration and reflect the diverse experiences, interests, and identities of young children
  • Practical guidance connecting tinkering, making, and engineering to how children learn, along with strategies for observing, documenting, and assessing learning in action
  • An online planning template for creating your own design challenges

Grounded in research and real classroom practice, Making and Tinkering with STEM gives educators the tools and inspiration to build on children’s natural curiosity and creativity. With this resource, everyday play becomes meaningful STEM exploration where problem solving, imagination, and learning come to life.

 

Additional Book Details

Table of Contents

  • About the Author
  • About the Contributing Editor
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Part One: Setting the Stage
    • Chapter 1: Understanding Children and Their Families
    • Chapter 2: Creating a Learning Environment for Tinkering, Making, and Engineering
    • Chapter 3: Guiding, Observing, Documenting, and Assessing STEM Learning
    • Chapter 4: Moving from Foundations to Action with Design Challenges
  • Part Two: Design Challenges
    • Section One: Build It
    • Section Two: Move It
      • Float Your Boat
      • Launch It!
      • Marbles in Motion
      • Move Like an Animal
      • Spring into Action
      • Squirrel Shenanigans
      • Tower Power
      • Wind Wonders
      • Zany Chain Reactions
    • Section Three: Change It
      • Bubble Wand Magic
      • Color-Mixing Machine
      • Face It!
      • Giant Shadows
      • If the Shoe Fits
      • Instrument Engineer
      • Juice It!
      • Silly Sounds
      • Weaving Wonders
    • Section Four: Invent It
      • Box It!
      • Design a Bot
      • Frame Factory
      • Gizmos Galore
      • Help, It’s Stuck!
      • Invent a Thing
      • Pet Carrier
      • Playground Maker
      • Toy Workshop
      • What a Car!
  • Book List
  • References
  • Index

Online Resources

Design Challenge Planning Template

Once you have a firm grasp of the design challenge structure, use this planning template to create your own design challenge with an original problem to be resolved based on a favorite story of the children in your learning setting.
 

Quick Reference of Books and Materials for Design Challenges

This quick reference offers a shorthand overview of materials unique to each design challenge as well as book suggestions.
 

Book Details

Product Code: 1176
ISBN: 978-1-952331-42-8
Publish Date: 2026
Citation (in Chicago 18th ed. style):
Heroman, C. 2026. Making and Tinkering with STEM: Solving Design Challenges with Young Children. 2nd ed. NAEYC.

Related Resources

Audience: Teacher
Age: Early Primary, Kindergarten, Preschool
Topics: Other Topics, Technology and Media, STEM, Subject Areas, Literacy, Children's Books, Math, Science, Engineering
Cate Heroman

Cate Heroman is one of the founders of Knock Knock Children’s Museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, renowned for its emphasis on early literacy and early STEAM education. A nationally recognized educator and author of numerous publications, she has been an early childhood educator, state administrator, trainer, facilitator, keynote speaker, and developer of curriculum and assessment materials.

cate heroman

Reviews

Grounded in current research and knowledge of child development, learning science, and motivation, Making and Tinkering with STEM offers field-tested design challenges linked with high-quality children’s books to spark children’s imaginations and tinkering skills. This must-have resource for anyone working with young children invites teachers and caregivers to step into children’s play—not only to deepen children’s learning, but also to rediscover their own joy of discovery.
—Jennifer Baumgartner, Professor of Early Childhood Education, Louisiana State University
 
As someone who had the immense honor of piloting many of the design challenges in this book, my biggest takeaway is that tinkering is a place where everyone belongs. This book inspires deep critical thinking without any barriers. Above all else, it shows children the immense power they have when they combine their hands and their brains. 
—Kylie Altier, First Grade Teacher, McKinley Elementary School, and 2024 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year
 
This inspiring book grounds STEM in developmentally appropriate practice and a deep knowledge of children. It offers invaluable guidance on creating an environment that supports playful learning, integrating the arts and literacy, and making every design challenge appropriate for children ages 3 to 8.
—Diane Trister Dodge, Early Childhood Educator and Founder, Teaching Strategies
 
Brilliant descriptions of STEM in action with young children entice readers to jump in with both feet. The design challenges illustrate rich learning experiences for every child, inspiring endless possibilities! Cate’s passion as a lifelong tinkerer shines through.
—Monica McCarthy-Aton, Program Manager, Partnership for Children of Lincoln and Gaston Counties
 
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Cover of Making and Tinkering with STEM: Solving Design Challenges with Young Children, Second Edition
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