Rube Goldberg Machines in Preschool
What’s something you want to do? Did you say you want to turn a pear purple? What a great idea! Now, how could we do it without painting it with a brush? What should the first step be? Rolling the fast car down a ramp? Great plan! What happens next?
Asking children to accomplish their goal through a series of connected cause-and-effect interactions creates an opportunity to invent, experiment, and solve problems.
What Is a Rube Goldberg Machine?
A Rube Goldberg machine accomplishes a simple task in a deliberately complicated way. One action sets off another, which starts the next, until the sequence achieves its goal. Do you remember the cartoons that inspired these? A character would hit their alarm clock which would set off a chain reaction of simple machines until toast was started with the lever being pushed down.
In 2014, I remember my class of two year olds being obsessed with the color purple and giggling at the notion of turning a pear purple. They chose a plastic pear from the dramatic play materials in the Imagine area and purple paint from the artistic Create area. Those familiar classroom materials became the starting point for an engineering challenge: How could they arrange a chain of actions that would eventually put purple paint on the pear?
For younger preschoolers, a machine does not need dozens of moving parts. Connecting just two or three actions gives them plenty to investigate. Typically our youngest preschoolers create machines with a few steps; the next year, it doubles, and in the last year of preschool, our students push on towards ten steps or more!
Exploring Science, Energy, and Engineering Through Play
These inventions give children a reason to explore simple machines. A ramp, or inclined plane, creates a sloping path for movement. A lever, such as a short board balanced across a support, allows a push on one end to lift the other.
Children also investigate energy. Lifting a ball to the top of a ramp gives it stored energy, which changes into energy of motion as it rolls down. When the ball bumps another object, it can transfer some of that energy and set the next part moving.
Cause and effect becomes something children can watch unfold. Each movement has a consequence, and the order and arrangement of the parts matter.
When a connection does not work, children can form hypotheses—possible explanations to test. An idea such as “Maybe these pieces are too far apart” gives them a reason to move the pieces closer and try again.
Engineering and design ties it all together: choosing a goal, designing a way to accomplish it, testing the plan, and making adjustments. Turning the pear purple provides the purpose; figuring out how provides the learning.
What Do Children Learn by Building—and by Watching?
Building asks children to turn an idea into something that works. They practice judging distances, balancing materials, coordinating their hands, and deciding what needs to change. Working together also creates opportunities to explain their thinking, consider someone else’s suggestion, and combine ideas.
A sequence that stops before reaching the paint is not simply a failure. It gives children a specific problem to investigate: Where did the action stop, and why?
Watching invites children to become investigators, too. They can predict what will move next, notice a wobbly connection, or identify the moment something unexpected happens. An adult might ask, “What started that movement?” or “Which part would you change?”
Retelling the sequence helps children organize their observations. Inviting quieter students who prefer to stay back to suggest or test an adjustment brings them into the problem-solving process.
Bringing the Fun Home—and Into Nature
At home, begin with a playful goal. Try rolling a large ball into a basket or tipping a little washable paint onto a washable toy in a tray. Ask, “What could make that happen?” Then work backward, using cardboard ramps, large blocks, toy vehicles, and lightweight containers. Begin with one connection and add another when it works.
Outside, trade paint for water, sand, and fallen leaves. Could a large ball roll down a gentle slope and tip a lightweight cup of water? Could the water flow through a shallow sand channel and carry a leaf toward a finish line? You can suggest testing the parts separately before trying to connect them when a child seems overwhelmed.
Supervise closely, keep structures low, and choose age-appropriate materials without sharp edges or small choking hazards. Use only a little water, empty containers afterward, and remind little friends to leave outdoor spaces tidy and free of debris.
The purple pear is the destination. The real discovery is learning how to get there—and realizing there may be more than one way.
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