It’s almost the end of class and towers of cardboard cover the tables and floor. Students have been learning the importance of a wide base to have a waist-high structure.

That may not seem like a tall order for most of us, but these students are five to seven years old. The class is Architectural Design for Kinders offered by Palo Alto’s Community Services Department as part of the summer program.

German native Anja Blum is an incredibly patient and encouraging instructor. A few parents stick around and help their child. An architectural designer herself, this is her first year teaching Kinders. Architectural Design for Kids (7-12 years old) is in its third year.

Through drawing and model making, Kinders learn concepts such as floor plan, elevation, stability, and interior design. The Kids class adds concepts such as scale, three-dimensional design, and designing furniture.

The most important goal is that they have fun working with the materials as they manipulate small boxes, construction paper, pipe cleaners, yogurt containers, toilet paper rolls, craft sticks, wire, strawberry baskets, scissors, tape, and glue.

It’s not be the Magic School Bus, but with these hands-on experiments, they certainly get to “take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!”