Second Grade Students Express Creativity in Stadium Design Project

Students Noah and Will, who are in the same learning pod, build a football stadium together.

Simmons Elementary School kicked off the school year with a Virtual Spirit Week, which ended with Fan Friday in celebration of sports. To go along with the theme, second grade teacher Jennifer Lloyd challenged students with a STEM activity to build their own sports stadiums. The class discussed sports stadiums and the different components such as fields, seats, parking lots and food stands. Students were then asked to build their own stadium with any materials they could find in their house or daycare center. “The only requirement was that they included a hot dog stand for me!” said Lloyd.

For materials, students utilized Magna Tiles, boxes, blocks, paper, Play-doh, school supplies, Legos, books or a combination of items. Students also got creative about what they included in their stadiums such as drones for camera footage, playgrounds for kids, announcer boxes and VIP lounges. Some students made stadiums for sports that exist while other chose to make up their own, and came up with unique stadium and mascot names.

“The project allowed students to express their creativity while using the design process. The open-ended nature of the challenge encouraged everyone to use problem solving skills to make their vision into reality,” said Lloyd. “The best part was that students remained on the TEAMS call and shared ideas as they were building. They found a way to collaborate even while apart!”

Students in learning pods built together and some invited their siblings in on the fun. When the school day ended at 2:45 p.m., students were having so much fun that they stayed on the call to finish sharing.