  We present a case study and an experience report on teaching engineering
skills to young learners in the 7 to 10 years age group. Teaching engineering
skills through a constructivist approach involving hands-on activities by
designing and building machines and mechanism through concrete objects helps in
developing the problem solving abilities of the child. Such activities also
helps in laying the foundation for computer programming courses and scientific
inquiry at elementary level. We present a learning environment and a curriculum
using Lego simple machines and mechanism kit. Our objective is not only to
teach concepts of basic machines but also develop essential skills like team
work and collaboration, communication and time management in students belonging
to the early childhood age group. We conduct experiments on a batch of five
students during a summer camp and used a mixed method approach to collect both
qualitative and quantitative data about their learning and behavior. Our
research and findings provides empirical evidences that it is possible to
develop engineering skills at early childhood level in addition to developing
language literacy and mathematical thinking.
