The Great Safari STEM Build
Every winter, families design, build, and test a hands-on engineering challenge together. This page is updated each year; this year’s build is below.
The Egg Drop Challenge — Keep Your Egg Safe!
Save the Egg!
Your family’s mission: design and build a container or contraption from everyday household materials that keeps a raw egg from cracking when it’s dropped from up high. Engineer it, test it, and drop it — will your egg survive?
🥚 The challenge at a glance
Build something that protects one raw egg through a drop from at least 6 feet up (a ladder, balcony, or second-story window). If your egg lands uncracked, you’ve done it! Use simple supplies like cardboard, cotton balls, straws, tape, plastic bags, and balloons — then film the big drop.
A Family Team Challenge
No age groups here — siblings of all ages work together on one entry, which makes it perfect for multi-age households. Grown-ups guide and cheer; the building belongs to the kids. Any homeschool family can enter, and it’s free.
Materials & Rules
- Protect one raw egg — it must be uncooked (that’s the real test!).
- Use simple supplies: cardboard, paper, cotton, straws, string, tape, plastic bags, balloons, and recyclables.
- Not allowed: store-bought egg-protector kits or ready-made packaging — build your own!
- Drop it from at least 6 feet up (an adult can help with the drop).
- Build and test it as a family — one entry per household.
How Entries Are Judged
- Did the egg survive? — an uncracked egg is the goal
- Creativity — clever, original design
- Problem-solving — effort to test and improve
- Teamwork — the family working together
Top Family Teams Win
Prizes go to the whole family, so everyone shares what you win.
What is Book Explorer?
Our reading app for PreK–12. Kids take quizzes on the books they’re already reading, earn points and stickers, and you get a clear picture of how their comprehension is growing.
Try the free demo →Important Dates
How to Enter
- Sign up with the quick form below so we know your family is building.
- Build your egg protector as a family, then test it with a drop!
- Film the big drop (a slow-motion moment is fun!) and show us whether your egg survived.
- Email your video or photos to info@homeschoolsafari.com by the deadline, with your family name and your children’s first names and ages. A sentence about what you’d improve earns bonus points!
Ready to save the egg? 🥚
Sign up, then build, drop, and see if your egg survives!
Sign Up to Enter → Email Your Entry →See what our family engineers have built over the years! Click any year to view the winners.
2025/26 The Great Safari Bridge Build — our first! ▾
Our first STEM build challenged families to engineer a bridge from household materials. Congratulations to our two winning family teams!
bridge photo
bridge photo