Engineering with Toddlers—Building Big Ideas with Small Hands

By: Melissa Johnson, Ph.D. Candidate and Dr. Cynthia DiCarlo, Louisiana State University

This article is part of a four-part series on integrating STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—into toddler classrooms. Grounded in the Louisiana Birth to Five Standards and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, each post offers practical guidance, materials suggestions, and facilitation strategies tailored to two-year-olds. Whether you’re setting up new centers or enhancing daily routines, this series supports playful, purposeful learning with big impact for little learners.

When we think of engineering, most of us picture complex bridges or high-tech gadgets. But in early childhood classrooms, engineering looks very different—and it starts early. For toddlers, engineering is about building, problem-solving, exploring how things fit together, and testing what works. These early experiences form the foundation for later skills in design thinking and innovation. By setting up a toddler-friendly engineering center, you can foster curiosity, perseverance, and spatial understanding through playful learning. And best of all, the materials are often already in your classroom.

 

Why Engineering in Toddler Classrooms?

According to the Louisiana Early Learning and Development Standards and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, young children begin engineering exploration through construction, trial-and-error play, and manipulating physical space. Engineering supports development in cognitive flexibility, mathematical reasoning, and motor skills—all while encouraging children to think like little inventors.

 

What to Include in Your Engineering Center

Here are the four key subcomponents of toddler engineering learning, with suggested materials and facilitation strategies:

1. Building & Constructing

• Materials: Blocks of various sizes, stacking cups, magnetic tiles, and foam bricks.

• Teacher Tips: Invite children to build towers or walls. Use prompts like, “How tall can you make it?” or “Can you build something with just red blocks?”

2. Problem Solving

• Materials: Puzzles, construction sets, shape sorters, and connector toys.

• Teacher Tips: Offer support, but do not rush to “fix” challenges. Encourage children to try new methods and praise persistence: “That didn’t work—what could you try next?”

3. Spatial Awareness

• Materials: Nesting toys, tunnels, shape sorters, and puzzles.

• Teacher Tips: Use spatial vocabulary during play—words like “inside,” “on top,” “under,” and “next to.” These concepts support both engineering and early math.

4. Design & Testing

• Materials: Ramps and balls, building planks, containers, and stacking materials with different textures or weights.

•  Teacher Tips: Allow children to test different configurations. Ask, “What do you think will happen if we make the ramp higher?” Support trial-and-error as a valuable part of the process.

5. Loose Parts Exploration

• Materials: Pinecones, lids, shells, cardboard tubes, fabric scraps, wooden rings, bottle caps, sticks, pom-poms, containers, and trays.

• Teacher Tips: Invite children to combine, sort, and design using open-ended materials. Ask “What could this become?” or “How can we use these pieces together?”

How to Set Up an Engineering Center

●      Space: Choose an open floor area or a low table where children can spread out, build, and test. Consider creating a space where children can come back to incomplete projects.

●      Organization: Store blocks and materials in open bins, sorted by size or type. Include photos of finished structures to inspire creativity. Label bins to support easy clean up.

●      Visual Supports: Add posters with basic shapes, colors, and building vocabulary to reinforce language.

Facilitation Strategies

In toddler engineering experiences, the teacher’s role is less about giving instructions and more about creating space for discovery. Toddlers learn through trial, error, repetition, and collaboration — so our job is to slow down, notice their thinking, and gently nudge problem-solving forward. Instead of telling toddlers what to build or how to fix something, we model curiosity, offer language, and celebrate effort. Here are some facilitation strategies to consider:

Narrate actions to make thinking visible

When teachers describe what children are doing, they help toddlers connect actions to concepts. Narration also builds vocabulary and introduces early engineering language in natural ways.

“You balanced three blocks on top! That’s tricky.”

This type of language:

1. Highlights problem-solving and design choices

2. Helps toddlers recognize cause and effect (“when you moved that block, it fell”)

3. Encourages reflection, even before children can fully explain their thinking 

Encourage persistence

Engineering is full of collapsed towers, wobbly ramps, and “back to the drawing board” moments — which is exactly where deep learning happens. Instead of fixing structures for children, we support them in returning to the challenge.

“Let’s try it again. What might help it stay up this time?”

This kind of facilitation:

1. Normalizes mistakes as part of learning

2. Builds frustration tolerance and resilience

3. Promotes early planning and hypothesis-testing

4. Strengthens executive function skills like working memory and self-control

Support collaboration

Engineering is inherently social. Toddlers learn new strategies when they observe peers, negotiate roles, and build together. Teachers help children move from parallel play toward collaborative creation.

“Do you want to build together? What could your friend add?”

This supports:

1. Turn-taking and communication

2. Perspective-taking (“my friend has an idea too”)

3. Early teamwork and leadership skills

4. A growing sense of STEM identity — “I am a builder, and I belong here”

These strategies support the development of executive function, language, and STEM identity—all beginning in the toddler years.

 

Connecting to Standards

Your toddler engineering center aligns with:

Louisiana Early Learning and Development Standards:

• Demonstration of flexibility and creativity by using a variety of strategies to solve problems.

• Identification of shapes and their properties, and describe the positions of objects in space.

• Engagement in scientific inquiry to explore observable phenomena.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework:

• Approaches to Learning – Problem Solving with Materials.

• Mathematics – Geometry and Spatial Sense.

National Science Teaching Association Standards (2014):

• Preschoolers engage in engineering through designing and testing physical structures.

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Final Thoughts

Toddlers may not be drawing blueprints or writing code just yet—but they are absolutely capable of thinking like engineers. With the right materials, space, and adult support, your classroom can become a hub of creativity, resilience, and discovery. In your engineering center, children aren’t just stacking blocks—they are learning to solve problems, think critically, and turn ideas into reality. And it all starts with one block at a time.

Melissa Johnson is an educational consultant, coach, and administrator with over a decade of experience in early childhood education. She has served in multiple roles throughout her career, including teacher, coach, and consultant, and currently works as a Director at a lead agency in the New Orleans region. Melissa holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree, and an Educational Specialist degree in Early Childhood Education. She is also a doctoral candidate in Early Childhood Education.

Email: melissadjohnson7@gmail.com

Social Media (Instragram): theecedoc

Dr. Cynthia DiCarlo is a Professor and Program Coordinator of the Early Childhood Education at Louisiana State University and the Executive Director of the Early Childhood Education Institute www.lsu.edu/ecei

Want to get connected? Join one of our online LAAEYC groups to network with other professionals who teach the same age group you do!!