The activity involves students working in groups to design a unique climbing hold using a limited amount of clay and various tools. The participants are required to work in groups and follow specific design guidelines, including creating a hold that is aesthetically pleasing, family-friendly, and safe to be used for climbing. The final design must be larger than 2"x2" and cannot be thicker than 3.5". The holds are then mounted on a pegboard using hex bolts. As an optional incentive, sets of holds can be selected as winners; in this case, one set was selected by the “management team” based on the provided guidelines, one by class vote, and two selected by children (family-friendly criteria). The supplied materials that are provided at different times through of the activity were 8 oz of white Modeling Magic Clay in a zipped baggie, a ruler, approximately 8”x8” pegboard, 3.5" long, ¼" hex bolts, washers, and nuts. The activity aims to promote creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, awareness of audience, and product safety awareness among the participants.

This activity was implemented in a senior-level chemical engineering course, but could be implemented in any level engineering course. Other than the informal voting, no formal assessment was completed.