Free activity
Run Cardboard Carnival this week. The Quick Start is free: build one game, test it, and change it.
Try the free activityCreative Dad Projects · K–2
Turn one game into a whole carnival.
Cardboard Carnival begins with a small engineering challenge: invent a game, watch someone play it, and make it fairer. The expanded versions give students more time to build, test, create signs, and welcome an audience.
K–2Grade band
STEAMEngineering · math · art
Three levelsChoose your commitment
One goalDesign, test, improve
Choose what fits your group
Three ways to run Cardboard Carnival
Quick Start
Make one tabletop game, invite a few players, change the distance or target, and compare results. The free version is ready to use.
Full Experience
Set up a planning area, build area, and testing area. Teams record a prediction, the first result, one change, and the retest. Finish with a small carnival for another group or families.
Total Transformation
Transform the room into a cardboard midway with student roles, station signs, a visitor route, and a showcase where teams explain what the tests taught them.
What students practice
More than making a game
- Plan and build a working design.
- Count and compare player results.
- Change one feature in response to evidence.
- Design signs and rules that help visitors play.
- Explain the choices behind the final game.
Inside the digital pack
Ready to print and run
The 24-page PDF includes facilitator plans for all three levels, role badges, station signs, mission cards, planning and testing sheets, score sheets, visitor feedback cards, and learner reflections.
Need help fitting the project to your group? Ask Jason a question.
From one table to a full showcase
Choose the version that fits your group.
Start with one build in one sitting, or grow the experience into a room full of student-designed games. Every level keeps the same learning cycle visible: predict, build, test, improve, and share.
Start with the free activity