Build a cardboard ramp
Use a cereal box or shipping box, tape, and anything that rolls. Change the height and predict what happens.
START HERE
You do not need a workshop.
You need a little time, a few ordinary materials, and permission for the result to be imperfect.
Make a tiny bridge
Give yourselves ten craft sticks, paper strips, or scrap cardboard. Test how many small objects the bridge holds.
Take something safe apart
Choose a broken or disposable mechanical object with no battery or stored energy. Sort the pieces and ask what each one did.
Invent a household challenge
Move a cotton ball without touching it, build the tallest paper tower, or carry three toys with one hand.
Let your child be the foreman
Give them the materials and let them assign your job. Connection grows when dads follow as well as lead.
The one rule:
Do not take over just because you can finish faster. Ask questions, offer one useful next step, and leave room for the child’s idea to change the plan.