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We’re using cogs to get things moving! Engineer your own with paper plates and lollipop sticks and sticky tape. For a treat, our candy floss cupcakes are in a spin, which way will they turn?
We're exploring how engineers lift things, by testing a homemade counterbalance lift for chocolate-chip cookies! The children also make a seesaw with a ruler, bottle tops and cardboard to find out what's heaviest - toy ducks or juggling balls?
Join us as we make our own conveyor belts - perfect for getting toys from one point to another! There's a conveyor belt made of drinking straws to roll small toys and a bigger one made of cardboard tubes too. It's twisting, rolling engineering fun.
Bob's missing an all-important check list which turned his go-kart into a no-go-kart, but our friends are on hand to help. They're using engineering to show how check lists can help get paper planes flying and balloon-car races on track.
We're designing plastic-bottle cars to put to the test on our obstacle course. But can over-engineering stop the cars getting around the track? A simple re-engineer could solve the problem so the cars are fit for purpose.
We're exploring friction as our friends find the best surface for duck racing. Let's see which surfaces slow toys down and which speed them up. You can try it too!
Padoing! We're turning cardboard tubes, elastic bands and pencils into paper ball launchers. The more energy stored, the further the paper will launch.
Our friends are making their own superstrong lifters, but how many strands of yarn will make the lifters strong enough to carry a full tube of bouncy balls - and a teddy?
Treasure maps at the ready! Join us as our friends design a treasure map demonstrating clear instructions - but can they find the hidden treasure? They're bound to if they communicate clearly and pay attention to those little details
Warm water, a bright light, a spoon or nothing at all - which will melt the ice quickest and free the button? Our friends are exploring melting and freezing by making their own ice lollies and fruit cubes
We're using cogs to get things moving! Engineer your own with paper plates, lollipop sticks and sticky tape. For a treat, our candy floss cupcakes are in a spin. Which way will they turn?
We're putting toy safety nets to the test with our mini tightrope. But which will be more suitable, kitchen roll, tin foil or fabric? Our friends are on hand to assess the suitability of each material
When heavy things are put on soft surfaces like sand, they sometimes sink. Spreading the weight across a bigger surface area can help to stop that sinking feeling, so we're making sand shoes from cardboard and ribbon
How can you see without being seen? By using mirrors and reflections! Join us as we engineer our own periscopes from juice cartons. We're also testing how to bounce enough light around a corner to make a hand shadow puppet
Blast off! We're engineering our own 'stomp rockets'. With a large plastic bottle, a small plastic bottle and some hosepipe you can send your own rocket blasting into space. All you need is a little engineering and a lot of foot power force!
How do you make something super-fast go slower? Our engineering friends are testing how umbrellas and parachutes can trap air and help slow things down. It's called drag! Join us as we make our own paper parachutes for a bottle top drop
Bitz, Bob and the children are looking at ways to blow lots and lots of bubbles. It's called 'scaling up' and is something engineers do to make more of the same thing. You can make a bubble-blowing machine from your recycling too!
The children are having a smashing time testing slides for egg rolling! If the angle's too steep their eggs will smash. Also we're turning paper plates and cardboard tubes into an awesome helter-skelter for a bouncy ball race
We're sending messages to our friends to explore how people can communicate without speaking. Signs, symbols, body movements, lights - there are lots of different ways to send a message. Join us as we engineer our own paper cup telephone!
We're playing toy hide-and-seek. But what will be the best way to help tiny Ted stay hidden in the garden? Camouflage! The children engineer a way to help their favourite shapes and toys blend into the background
We're playing toy hide-and-seek. But what will be the best way to help tiny Ted stay hidden in the garden? Camouflage! The children engineer a way to help their favourite shapes and toys blend into the background
We're exploring what floats and what sinks to figure out how to stop a stone from sinking in water. The children engineer a raft from wooden lolly sticks and find the perfect balance for their homemade floating fruit juice holders
Join Bitz, Bob and the children as they test the best materials to make a noisy alarm go quiet. We're exploring how to muffle sound, and you can do it too! Come and play as we engineer our own colourful earmuffs from socks and headbands
Bitz, Bob and the children are building houses for their little pig toys. They have straws, lolly sticks and cubes, but which will be the strongest building material? Oink! Join in and make your own sand bricks at home - it's compacting fun!
Join us as we use string, straws and balloons to make our own balloon zip wires. It's a fun way for Bitz, Bob and the children to explore propulsion! Give it a go and fly pictures to your friends. Let's race!
How can you make things sound louder? Join Bitz, Bob and the children as they look at different ways to amplify sound, using tubes to make a music speaker louder and cardboard for mega megaphones. Let's rock!
We're finding out how engineers use the power of the wind. You can make your own paper windmills from card and straws at home. Pop your windmills on top of a homemade merry-go-round and watch them spin when you blow. It's wind power!
When Bitz, Bob and the children are engineering a ramp for their toy duck house they have to think about what the toy ducks need to make it safe. A little wild bird's needs are in their thoughts too, as they engineer brilliant bird feeders. Tweet!
Join us as we try to decorate lots of identical butterfly cakes for the teddy bears' picnic. Without a system in place, it's tricky. But with a little help from system engineering the children can decorate loads more delicious cakes!
With some folded paper, lolly sticks and tape the children are engineering paper fans to keep cool. But how do you power a paper fan hands-free? Join Bitz and Bob as they explore kinetic energy using a teddy bear swing to power their fan!
Strike! We're bowling today, and every time the children knock down a skittle they get a point. But how will they keep score? Join Bitz, Bob and the children as they engineer their own colourful scoring systems from clear jars and mini pompoms.
The children are bell-ringing, but how will they know which bells to ring to play a song? By colour coding musical sequences, everyone can play along. Join in at home by making colour coded xylophones from cardboard tubes. Practice makes perfect!
Problem solving to the rescue! Bitz, Bob and the children are working out how to use the things they have around them to rescue soft toys and treasure from the blanket island. They're also making extendable grabbers from lolly sticks and straws!
Bitz, Bob and the children are using magnets to test all sorts of things, from teddy bears to alarm clocks. Anything made with metal will stick to the magnet! You can explore magnetism at home by making your own secret stars magnet game to play.
What a hoot! Bitz, Bob and the children have an amazing owl badge that flaps its wings. But to make more flapping-wing badges, the children need to take one badge apart to find out how it works. Then they can copy what they find to make more badges!
Engineering challenges for children. We're weaving individual strands of ribbon together to make a strong toy-catcher net!
Making perfect presents for your friends can be tricky, but Bitz, Bob and the children are engineering great gifts with the help of mood boards. Mood boards are collections of pictures of the things you like, so your friends can see what you love!
Join Bitz, Bob and the children as they write simple code to help Pirate Pete cross the board and get to his treasure. Hoo yarrr! The code is also helping our 'robot' friend escape the big grid maze - by avoiding the crosses to get to the end.
Bitz, Bob and the children are building bridges from paper and card, and you can do it too! Join us as we make a bridge with cups and a paper towel and another bridge with card to hold toy frogs. It's the triangle-shape folds that make them super strong.
Join Bitz, Bob and the children as they make paper butterflies and paper kites with the same shapes and patterns on both sides. When something is the same on both sides it's symmetrical, and symmetry helps our home-made kites to fly sky high!
If you pay attention to little details, it's amazing what you can find! Join Bitz, Bob and the children for a game of grumpy kittens spot the difference. Will you be able to find where one of our mega wheels is broken? It's all in the details!
Bitz, Bob and Purl are in a race across the whole wide world to win the trophiest trophy ever, and they are joined by a new team member, Roly, a roller-skating baby dinosaur. To win they need to engineer a way to get off Faraway Island without a boat, stop their carriage sinking in Big Hot Sandy Desert, build a balloony floatoony flying machine, stop Gerhardt the goat eating a clue, ski down High Snowy Mountain and help Roly find her mother before crossing the finish line ahead of Team Bevel!
Did you know that flat card can be turned into standy-up boxes? Bitz, Bob and the children are making the perfect treasure chests, and their own robo-helmets, just like Bob's! With a few folds and some tape you're a 2D-to-3D engineer.
Join Bitz, Bob and the children as they test different materials to launch soft balls. Card, rulers and spoons are all put to the test to find the perfect 'padoinger'. You can make your own soft ball launcher from cardboard tubes and plastic spoons too!
Join Bitz & Bob as they look back on some of their favourite makes with the children.
