YES at the Museum of Science, Boston

06/16/2026

Students debate who is most affected by pollution in a local waterway. Notice the teacher isn't looking for one correct answer! The focus is on learning to discuss a topic, and being able to put their reasoning into words.
This is how engineering helps kids learn to listen, question, and build on each other’s ideas.

06/15/2026

One of our favorite reviews: "It just sticks in my brain!"
A second grader shares how she felt about the Nightlights engineering challenge. We'll take it.

06/12/2026

Building and testing is often the most intriguing part of an engineering challenge. Why not skip ahead and build something cool?

This young student shares how he learned to slow down and appreciate the planning and design phases. It wasn't until he worked through the full Engineering Design Process that he understood why each step matters.

06/09/2026

Keep the entries coming!
Choosing only 20 winners is going to be difficult, but we are thrilled to read every entry. Thank you to every educator and event planner who has shared their ideas, enthusiasm, and commitment to bringing hands-on engineering to young learners.

There's still time to enter before June 10.

Classroom teachers —> https://hubs.ly/Q04kFpHK0
Event organizers —> https://hubs.ly/Q04kFr0V0

06/05/2026

YES is hiring! Do you want to help bring authentic, hands-on engineering learning to more students?

We're looking for a District Growth Manager to join the our team at the Museum of Science. We'd love to find someone who understands the K-12 landscape and is enthusiastic about building long-term partnerships with districts, education networks, and out-of-school-time organizations to expand access to hands-on STEM learning across the country.

You'll be joining a smart, collaborative team of people who are passionate about STEM education.

Learn more and apply—>

Boston, MA

06/01/2026

You test an idea. You collect data. And then what do you do?

“IMPROVE.”

In our newly-updated Engineering Parachutes unit, students help re-seed a forest while thinking like scientists and engineers. They learn about forces that affect speed, then test one variable at a time so they can improve their designs.

Free digital access—> https://hubs.ly/Q04jDyp40

05/28/2026

A STEM kit giveaway? YES. We are giving away TWENTY kits, with ten winners in each category:

🏫 🍎 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀. Teachers! If you’re selected, you’ll get everything you need to bring a hands-on engineering unit to your class this fall.

🏛️ 🧒 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. This is for anyone planning a large event, think library program, scouting meetups, PTA or PTO events, festivals, kid-friendly conventions. Ten winners will receive a fun, easy-to-run engineering challenge for up to 40 families.

Links to all the details in the comments, or reply with any questions. Please share if you know someone interested in leading engineering activities.

05/28/2026

How to turn a classic fun activity into NGSS-worthy learning: challenge students to design a way to safely transport supplies to people in hard-to-reach areas.

They still have fun stomping and launching their test rockets, but they are also thinking about payloads, stability, materials, and collecting data that will help them make decisions about how to improve.

05/26/2026

“Dude. I’ve never seen you work so hard on something!”
“I know. I just love engineering.”

(Overheard during an engineering challenge, as two middle school boys were troubleshooting their design for a wearable alert system. 💜⚙️)

05/26/2026

Kids are so awesome.

Take a look at the picture a 5th-grade teacher sent us after his class completed the YES unit, *Engineering Plastic Filters.* One of his students posted this flyer around school after learning about pollution in the unit.

This is why we work so hard to make units deeply engaging, and why we LOVE hearing from our educators.