The egg drop may be the most versatile activity there is. It can be done in kindergarten to teach about gravity, in middle school to teach engineering, and in high school physics. (We’ve even done the egg drop in professional development as a team-building activity). These 27 egg drop ideas take the challenge far beyond basic.
Plus, fill out the form on this page to get our accompanying egg drop challenge worksheet to walk your students through the process of planning and testing their design.
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1. Egg Drop Challenge “How-To”
Watch our how-to video for easy step-by-step instructions on the intricacies of the egg drop challenge! The video includes fun ideas to spice up the egg drop challenge and a few examples of how to craft the best device to hold your egg.
Teach Engineering
2. Disaster egg drop
Have students imagine that they are trying to deliver eggs to people who have been in a disaster. They must use contents from care packages to pack and try to deliver their eggs. The focus of this egg drop is on the change from potential to kinetic energy and how energy moves when it impacts the ground.
Looking for tried-and-true ideas for the parachute egg drop method? Give students a variety of materials—straws, Popsicle sticks, paper, bags—and see who can make a parachute that helps the egg float instead of splat.
First, decorate an egg like Humpty Dumpty (smiley face, overalls). Then, fill baggies with different materials like water beads, sand, pasta, and cotton balls. Drop Humpty in and see which material protects him the best.
Connect a “basket” to a balloon with yarn and see whether or not the balloon will float gently enough so the egg doesn’t break. You may try this in different types of weather to see what happens to the balloon and egg when it’s windy or not.
Create a dodecahedron out of straws, place an egg in the middle, and drop it. Will the straw structure protect the egg enough for it not to break? Bonus: Students learn about geometry and dodecahedrons.
Use Styrofoam cups to create a stack around the egg. Place a heavy rock in the bottom of the first cup (the rock should be heavier than the egg). Then, put six more cups on top, put the egg into the seventh cup, and cover the stack with the eighth. Tape the stack together and drop.
Suspend an egg using rubber bands and pantyhose for protection. Will the egg bounce and wiggle or crack on impact?
iGame Mom
11. Paper straws egg drop
Sometimes having limited materials brings out students’ creativity. Give students nothing but an egg, paper, and scissors, and see what they can come up with.
A Pringles can is the perfect size and shape to protect an egg. Use cushioning and pencils to hold the egg in place.
Green Kid Crafts
13. Sponge egg drop
Cut a hole in the middle of a sponge and fit the egg into the hole. Then, use straws and tape to secure the egg and see if the sponge will soften the blow.
Looking for more ideas that incorporate parachutes in your egg drop challenge? Place the egg in a red Solo cup with some cushioning (shredded paper, cotton). Then, attach a plastic bag to the cup and launch it in a place where the wind can catch the bag.
Tuck an egg into a roll of toilet paper, pack with cotton balls, and cover with duct tape. You could use this strategy to drop the egg, or roll it down an obstacle course.
16. Oobleck-wrapped egg challenge
For a multi-step approach, make Oobleck and cover the egg in Oobleck. Then, put the egg in a cup that includes a soft packing material (mini-marshmallows, cotton balls). Cover the top with plastic wrap or tape and get ready to drop.
Cool Science Dad
17. Ship egg drop
Give students a collection of materials like Popsicle sticks, straws, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, yarn, cotton balls, and sandwich bags. Then challenge them to make ships to protect their eggs.
What can’t you do with pool noodles? Cut pool noodles into parts and use duct tape, rubber bands, and other materials to create soft, spongy pods for eggs.
Use toilet paper rolls as pillars to support and protect an egg, then use a sponge and rubber bands to hold it together. The big question with this egg drop is whether it will float down or crash.
Cover an egg in floam and see if it provides enough cushioning to break the fall. If you don’t have floam, you can also try kinetic sand, play dough, or anything that will cover the egg and absorb the impact.
This activity isn’t an egg drop, per se. Students use rubber bands to create a bungee jump for an egg and predict how many rubbers bands they will need for the egg to drop a certain length (maybe 6 feet). For students who are well versed in the egg drop, this is a fun spin on the idea.
Looking for ideas to make the egg drop project more challenging? Ask students to find materials in nature—sticks, leaves, an abandoned bird’s nest—to create their egg drop structures.
Click the button below to receive our free printable worksheet, which you can use to accompany an egg drop challenge in your classroom. The worksheet includes space to brainstorm egg drop designs, as well as a section to document results.
