Let’s Build A Book Bridge! Kids Activities Blog

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Today we’re building a book bridge. Kids of all ages will love this fun STEM activity. All you need is an assortment of books and some chairs. A book bridge is a great way for kids to have fun in an educational way. Building a book bridge is fun for older kids and younger kids alike. You can build a book bridge at home or in the classroom.

Book Bridge

Gather your books, because today we are building a book bridge. Building a book bridge will allow your child to explore STEM skills like: physics, engineering principles, and even problem-solving.

That isn’t all though, it teaches other things like:

Kinesthetic engagement
Teamwork
Perseverance
Design Thinking
Creative integration
Respect for materials
Visual-spatial awareness

This book bridge activity is great for younger kids and older kids and will allow kids to also practice fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.

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Related: Check out this building with straws- A STEM activity.

Supplies Needed To Build A Bridge

STEM book bridge activity- Books stacked on a wood chair - Kids Activities Blog — You’ll need hardcover books and 2 chairs.

How To Do This Bridge Building Stem Activity

Step 1

Start with sturdy books at the bottom and set them on the chair. You want them lined up with the edge of the chair.

Step 2

Now add another book, but have it over hang the first book by a little bit.

Step 3

Repeat this until your books start getting close to the middle opening.

Step 4

Add a book to close the gap, thus completing the bridge!

Discussing How To Build Your Bridge

STEM book bridge activity- Big hardcover books stacked to make a bridge on two wooden chairs on tile floor - Kids Activities Blog — You can discuss different ways to build your bridge.

The way described above is just the way we built our bridge. You can build yours any way you want to. This would be a fun time to sit down and discuss with your child how they want to build the bridge or what they want the bridge to look like. You could even have them draw out a schematic for their bridge!

Modify This Book Bridge Activity For Older Kids

While this STEM activity is fairly straight forward for little kids, bigger kids may find it too easy. You can change things up and make it more challenging if need be. You could do things like:

Add different sized books
Use chairs of different sizes
Make a bigger gap

As you add more challenges you’ll be able to watch your child problem-solve and adapt to bring their bridge together.

You could even test the strength of your bridge by adding extra books to the top or different toys to see how much it can withstand. This would also be a cool science experiment for at home or for a science fair.

Our Experience With This STEM Bridge Activity

STEM book bridge activity- Child in green stacking books on wooden chairs to make a bridge on tile floor- Kids Activities Blog — My kids had so much fun building a bridge out of books.

We had so much fun building a book bridge. We used big books and we did try with other books as well. My kids loved building their own structures.

They also crawled under them once they knew it was sturdy and had lots of giggles seeing how long it took for the bridge to fall down when they added things. “London Bridge is Falling Down” was sang a lot that day.

I hope your kids and your family has as much fun as mine did with this super fun STEM activity.

Materials

A variety of sturdy hard cover books
Two chairs or stools

Instructions

Start with sturdy books at the bottom and set them on the chair. You want them lined up with the edge of the chair.
Now add another book, but have it over hang the first book by a little bit.
Repeat this until your books start getting close to the middle opening.
Add a book to close the gap, thus completing the bridge!