The Three Little Pigs STEM Activities

A hands-on engineering challenge that brings the classic fairy tale to life!

This Three Little Pigs STEM activity adds a fun twist to the classic fairy tale: the Big Bad Wolf isn’t actually trying to eat the pigs — he’s suffering from terrible seasonal allergies! His sneezes are out of control, and he desperately needs a sturdy new home that can withstand these forceful and terrible sneezes. Can your students engineer a house strong enough to hold up to the wolf’s “atchoos”? This activity is perfect when you are studying force and motion and it’s also just so much fun!

Three Little Pigs Fairy Tale STEM Activity with the Engineering Design Process

This fairy tale STEM activity uses the engineering design process to challenge students to design and build a house that won’t blow away. It’s perfect for early elementary classrooms, homeschoolers, and STEM clubs looking for a Three Little Pigs engineering activity that’s low-cost, engaging, and curriculum-aligned. I created all of the “STEM Tales” resources just for lower elementary students so that the engineering design process is organically followed when the students follow the short, kid-friendly story.

Three Little Pigs STEM activity includes a story that is different from the original fairy tale. Read the original fairy tale aloud or do your own storytelling, then discuss: What’s the same? What’s different about our version? Comparing and contrasting the story helps activate prior knowledge and makes the engineering context more meaningful.

Materials Needed for The Three Little Pigs STEM Activity

• Cardboard boxes and recyclables
• Tape
• Index cards, paper plates, empty food containers, cardboard tubes
• Weights (pennies, wooden blocks, etc.)
• One cereal box (to build the testing station)
• A fan to simulate the wolf’s allergic sneeze — a fan that tilts so that it can blow straight up works best

Set up the Testing Station

Cut a small window in both the front and back of a cereal box. Attach the box to the fan to create your testing station. Students will place their finished houses inside and switch on the fan to see if their design holds up under “sneeze pressure.”

The Engineering Design Process in Action with the Three Little Pigs

This activity guides students through every step of the engineering design process:

1. Ask – What does the wolf’s house need to do?
2. Imagine – Brainstorm different house designs
3. Plan – Sketch a design and take measurements to ensure the wolf fits inside and that the house fits on the testing station
4. Build – Construct the house prototype using recyclables, tape, craft supplies
5. Test – Place the prototype on the testing station and turn on the fan
6. Improve – If it blows away, add weight or other features or redesign and test again

The aim of any great STEM challenge is for students to NOT succeed on the first try, and that’s the whole point! Hopefully with some improvements and redesigns, they can find success. If not, they can study another team’s design or ask for help from other “engineers”! After practicing “failing” a few times during STEM challenges, students will become more accustomed to it and realize that their failure is simply a data point telling them that something can be improved. ALL great engineering designs fail the first time!

Try this STEM Challenge!

Beyond the engineering skills, this fairy tale STEM activity is perfect for:

• Growth mindset — students learn that failure is part of the design process
• Teamwork — collaborative building and problem-solving
• Math skills — measuring to meet size constraints
• Science understanding — the activity is a hands-on way for students to explore force and motion
• Critical thinking — analyzing why a design failed and how to improve it or start over with a fresh idea

In addition to that, there are bonus challenges included in this fairy tale story STEM activity. You’ll also find kid-friendly checklist rubrics and a digital story option too if you would rather display it for all students to read as a class.

You can find this STEM activity on Teachers pay Teachers