Have you tried an egg drop event? Your students will love these projects. You will love the detailed teacher’s guides in my resources!
The first time I mentioned a potential egg drop in the STEM Lab I heard cheering. Yes, students were very “egg-cited”!
We tried a version of an Egg Parachute and the students were hooked on these projects.
You will be too! #engagingchallenges

In this post, for your convenience, you may find Amazon Affiliate links to resources. This means that with your purchase of items Amazon will pass on small percentages to me. This will not create extra costs for you at all! It will help me keep this blog running!
After the first STEM Egg Drop. I knew we needed to try different activities. This led to the invention of several more challenges for all ages! I am sharing 5 Egg Events!
- Egg Cars
- Egg Towers
- Egg Parachutes
- The Egg Drop Ride
- A Simple Egg Drop
These work with all upper elementary age groups and I will also share what grades I have tried. And there are tips sprinkled throughout the post to help you with your “eggs-travaganza”!
Egg Cars
This event was created for my 3rd graders. They had noticed the STEM Lab agenda and the older students were completing egg events. Of course, they wanted something with eggs, too!
So, we tried Egg Cars.
The idea is to build a car that will carry an egg down a ramp. Trust me, building a car is challenging for third graders! We always struggle a little with those axles and wheels.
NOTE: This is not an Egg drop event, but we do use real eggs!
TIP: For my younger students I take away the hardest part of the car challenge. I cut out their wheels. I discovered a long time ago that having 3rd graders cutting cardboard is just so hard. They have a lot of trouble with using scissors to cut out a circle, so I cut out all the wheels. When this challenge is over I collect all those wheels and place them in a large zippered bag. Yes, we re-use them!
TIP: Have a plastic car on hand to show students where the axle of a car is placed on the car body. This makes so much more sense to them when they can see it working before they try to build it.
One of my favorite parts of this challenge is seeing how the students decorate their little egg cars. This one has headlights!
TIP: I know you noticed that the egg in one of the photos is a plastic egg. I always buy a supply of these around Easter time, but if you need them at a different time of year try these – (Just click on the image).
I place 22-23 pennies inside the egg and then run a piece of masking tape around the opening to help it stay closed. The plastic egg will crack if it hits the floor and we patch those cracks with more tape. (The pennies weigh about the same amount as a real egg.)
Egg Towers
This challenge is our 4th-grade egg event. It seems like such a simple challenge, but it is more difficult than you would think! It’s the Fabulous Egg Tower!
The goal of the egg tower is to build a tall structure that will hold an egg at the top.
We tested with plastic eggs first. THen we switched to real eggs.
Two different kinds of paper have been tried with this challenge- newspaper and heavy brown paper.
A lot of our structures resemble platforms more than towers and they were not tall. Still, the weight of the egg was a factor in creating a sound structure.
TIP: When do we use a real egg? We always test with an empty plastic egg first. This lets the students know that the egg will fit wherever it is they are going to place it. Then we use a weighted plastic egg. If the structure works with the heavier egg then they can try a real egg.
Egg Parachutes
This is our 5th-grade challenge! It involves many steps to get to the point we drop a real egg from a very great height! It’s the Great Egg Parachute Challenge!
This challenge is one I usually complete with larger teams.
One-half of the team builds the carrier for the egg and must focus on making the egg safe. The other half of the team creates the parachute.
TIP: Make sure students know that the strings around the edge of the parachute need to be the same length. You might also want to talk about the shape of a parachute. I usually show some Google images before we get started.
After finishing the egg carrier the next step is to attach the parachute to it and then drop it. First with an empty plastic egg and if the carrier works, they try a weighted egg.
For the real egg test, I climb to the top of a 20-foot ladder and drop the parachute!
TIP: Finally, here’s the best tip ever about eggs! Place the real egg in a zippered bag before students use it for any of these challenges. If it hits the ground and breaks you will have no mess to clean up. Just throw away the bag!
The Egg Drop Ride
This egg drop event is a unique challenge that requires the use of a pole. We use a 5-foot long PVC pipe, but a broomstick will also work great! I call this one an Egg Drop Ride!
The goal of this challenge is to create a device that will slide down the pole and land softly enough to keep the egg from breaking.
We test this one with an empty egg or a ping-pong ball. If the cups holding the egg land softly we try a weighted egg. This always brings groans.
That heavier-weighted plastic egg will land much harder than the empty one. Here’s a quick video showing a drop that works- with a ping pong ball!
Students have to re-think their braking system and redesign to get this one to work. It is a challenge I have used with only 5th graders.
A Simple Egg Drop
This challenge was designed for younger students. My 4th graders really, really wanted to try an egg drop. I thought the original egg parachute was too challenging.
So, we invented an easier version.
In this Egg Drop challenge students build a parachuting device that will safely land an egg. The twist is that we only drop it at a distance of 3 feet.
The rules of this task make it simple enough for your younger students!
Don’t be scared of trying these fun challenges! They are challenging and full of learning. Your students will love an egg drop event!
RELATED ARTICLES