Chapter 4

Doing

Building, directing AI, money and making things with your hands. Doing beats just watching.

8 activities inside

Before you start: Remember something you built or made recently. What was tricky about it?

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Doing · Imagination and building 20 min · pencil, colored pencils ★★☆

Invent it

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Invent something new! Follow the rules, then claim your patent.

Draw your invention and label the parts.
Write its name and who it helps.

It must help someone at home.
It can only use things from the recycling bin.
It must fit in a shoebox.

My invention (label the parts)

Its name, and who it helps

PATENT PENDING

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Rules spark creativity. Working inside limits is how real designers think.

Which rule was hardest to follow?
What would version 2 do better?

Extend it: Build it for real from the recycling bin.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Imagination and building 20 min · 10 sheets of paper, tape, ruler ★★☆

Build the tallest paper tower

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Use 10 sheets of paper and 30 cm of tape. Your tower must stand on its own for 10 seconds.

Plan: draw your first tower.
Test: build it and measure it.
Improve: draw and build a better one.

Version 1

Height (cm):

Version 2

Height (cm):

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Plan, test, improve is how engineers work. The first try is supposed to teach you something.

What made version 2 taller or stronger?
What would you try for version 3?

Extend it: Have a family tower challenge with the same rules.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Directing AI like a team 20 min · pencil, bread, butter or jam, blunt knife ★★☆

Program your grown-up

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Your grown-up is a robot. It does exactly what you write!

Write the steps to make a sandwich.
Your grown-up does exactly what you wrote.
Fix what went wrong and try again.

Task: Make a sandwich with bread and butter or jam.

Step	My instruction	What the grown-up did	Fix
1
2
3
4
5
6

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Computers and AI tools do what we say, not what we mean. Clear, step-by-step instructions are the first skill of directing AI. The grown-up handles the knife. Check for food allergies first.

Which step caused the funniest mistake?
What did you have to add to make it clear?

Extend it: Swap roles: your child follows your steps to draw a secret picture. Talk about how this is like asking an AI for help.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Directing AI like a team 15 min · pencil ★★☆

Make the vague request clear

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A helper (a person or an AI) can only do a good job if you say clearly what you want.

Read each vague request.
Write what is missing: who, what, how long, what style?
Write a clear version.

Example: Vague: “Tell me about dogs.” Clear: “Tell me 3 fun facts about how dogs smell things, in short sentences for a 9-year-old.”

Vague request	What is missing?	My clear request
Draw me a nice picture.
Help me with my homework.
Make lunch.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Clear requests get better results, from people and from AI. Kids learn to say what, who for, and how.

What made your clear version better?
What might go wrong with the vague one?

Extend it: Next time you ask an AI tool something together, improve the question first.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Money sense 20 min · pencil, calculator (optional) ★★★

Penny doubled or $500?

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Would you rather have $500 now, or a penny that doubles? Day 1 is 1¢, day 2 is 2¢, day 3 is 4¢… What do you get on day 20?

Write your guess at the bottom first.
Fill in each day by doubling. Then turn day 20 into dollars.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

My guess:

Day 20 in dollars: $

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Doubling starts slow and then explodes. This is how savings and interest can grow over time.

On which day did the penny pass $500?
Why does it grow so fast at the end?

Extend it: Try it with the smallest coin where you live. The doubling works the same way.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Money sense 10 min · pencil, 3 jars ★☆☆

Save, spend, give

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Split any money you get into three jars: Save, Spend and Give.

Label three jars: Save, Spend, Give.
Each week, split your money between them.
Write the amounts in that week’s row.

Example: Week 1: I got $5. Save $2, Spend $2, Give $1.

Week	I got	Save	Spend	Give
1
2
3
4
5
6

Week	I got	Save	Spend	Give
7
8
9
10
11
12

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Splitting money builds habits early: saving for later, spending with thought, and giving to others.

What are you saving for?
Who would you like to give to?

Extend it: Match a little of what goes in the Save jar to show how saving grows.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Body and hands 20 min · scissors, pencil, colored pencils ★★★

Fold a paper fortune teller

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Color the corners. On each flap Q1–Q8, write a short question.

Cut out the square. Fold it, printed side down, as in pictures 1 to 3. Play!

1. Fold all 4 corners to the middle.

2. Flip it over. Fold the corners in again.

3. Fold in half. Push fingers into the 4 pockets.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Folding builds hand skills and following steps. The questions start real talks.

Which fold was trickiest?
Which question gave the best answer?

Extend it: Make a second one with “would you rather” questions for a family game.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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Doing · Body and hands 20 min · pencil, ruler or tape measure ★☆☆

Measure your home

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Guess first, then measure. How good are your eyes?

Write your guess in cm.
Measure and write the real size.
Circle your closest guess.

Find and measure	My guess	Real size
The length of your bed
The width of a door
Your foot
The highest you can reach
Something exactly 10 cm long
Your longest jump

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Guessing then checking trains estimation, and moving around the house makes math physical.

Did your guesses get better as you went?
What could you use to measure if you had no ruler?

Extend it: Measure the same things in hand spans or foot lengths and compare.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

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