5 ways to teach engineering for kids with a biblical foundation

There’s a lot of buzz, and rightly so, around teaching engineering for kids. Engineering (especially computer engineering) is a huge, and ever growing, job market, and teaching engineering for kids in our schools and homeschools has grown right along side it. Where great progress is made, however, problems usually follow in its wake.

The lie the world tells us​

I looked it up. The closest Starbucks to me is over 3.5 hours away. 3.5 hours!

For someone born and raised in Seattle, it’s been… difficult. I know I know, Starbucks isn’t even that good, but what can I say. There’s something special about the soft music, the never ending supply of caffeine, and the quiet corner where I can sit—alone but not really—and get all the things done. I don’t even mind that the “something special” is an entire department of interior designers armed with the latest behavioral psychology journals.

I also miss the easy conversation. The I’ll never see you again but I popped my headphones out for a sec so let’s chat moments. Most of these have faded from memory; that’s the point—social satisfaction with no commitment. I do remember one chat in particular, however. He was an older man with Dr. Emmet Brown hair, looking at my Bible skeptically. “I can’t believe that you’re an engineer and you actually believe in this stuff. Aren’t you supposed to be good at logic?” He told me he was a mathematician, as if that would end the debate about the logic of God. I told him that my husband, a university professor in mathematics, also believed in Christ. “He’s just pretending to make you happy, there’s no way he believes all that stuff.” This guy was a bit more forward than most, but he wasn’t alone in his objections.

I’ve heard it from my classmates and teachers at my university, from my coworkers and tech leads during my time at Boeing, and at some point from almost every programming forum online I’ve visited. “The Bible, and all religion for that matter, is for the common, superstitious lot. Postmodern, scholarly, forward thinkers are too educated for that.”

However, Boyle, Euler, Kelvin, Faraday, Mendel, and Newton—some of the greatest scientists and engineers ever to have existed—disagree.

The truth the Bible tells us​

It shouldn’t be surprising that some of the world’s brightest minds were also Christians; after all, Christ created logic.

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

-John 1:3

This includes everything from electrons to printed circuit boards, from new ideas to creativity itself. ALL things were made from, through and for Christ to the glory of God the Father.

From years of researching curriculum, I’ve noticed that we seem to readily remember this when teaching natural sciences, but the more removed the subject is from “natural” sciences, the more glory humans attribute to themselves, and the more we forget God. As we teach engineering for kids, we should actively work against this push towards secularism. We can work towards instilling in our children the truth that all things; our tools, materials, creativity, time, energy and skill, come from God.

So how do we do this?

5 Christ-centered ways to teach engineering for kids

We need to teach our kids, as we would in any other subject, that Christ is the foundation of everything we do and study. Here are 5 tips for doing just that.

1. Don’t just ask your kids if they could do something, ask if they should

Obviously working with a little engineer to discover how to do something is very important, but we need to also work through the thought process of whether doing that thing would glorify God. Many of our most spectacular failings as humans have been the result of engineering done for its own sake, as the engineers considered themselves the slaves of invention, and above the trappings of morality.

Try this: Ask your kids why they want to make something. Would making that DIY super soaker gun glorify God? Maybe! But maybe they want to use it to annoy their brother or sister. Even if it seems silly (how would making this digital tic-tac-toe game glorify God?) it will build a habit of your child running through the moral ramifications of each of their projects, no matter how little.

2. As you teach engineering for kids, praise God for his creation​

3. Teach that engineering can be an act of worship​

God made us in His image. He is creative, he brings order, he delights in nature… he put all that in us. He is why we love to build and create. For some that means painting or home decor, for others that means engineering. They’re all outflows of the very image of God he has given us. Like the Israelites used their technical skills in the building of the tabernacle and temple, we can use ours to glorify God.

Try this: Whenever your child creates something, be it a ninja stealth helicopter with fire cannons (aka two pieces of paper taped together) or an actual robot, don’t just say “Good job!” Try instead, “Wow, thank you Lord for giving Tom such creativity and determination!” Your child still feels great, but praise has been given to the Lord, and you will be modeling for your child how to give thanks instead of getting puffed up.

4. Make time for historical discussion as you teach engineering for kids​

We don’t lack for material that discusses the “hows” of history. The enigma machine, the nuclear bomb, hairspray. What is equally important to discuss is, what should have happened? Should we have made those things? I think the exercise of talking about these subjects, instead of just telling them that something was good or bad, is what really benefits our children. In many of these cases the answer isn’t clear. Open, non-judgmental discussion is key. I’m not saying you shouldn’t correct clearly unbiblical thinking—that is our job as parents—but as much as possible let your child think through these things on their own.

Try this: Check out Astra Nova School’s conundrums to get an idea of how to approach this! My kids love these conundrums. Although not directly to do with engineering for kids, the process and format is perfect for practicing open discussion. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can make up your own conundrums on the fly as you come across big moments in engineering history during your normal studies. Good places to get started (depending on age) are the inventions of nuclear energy, automobiles, space shuttles, and the atomic bomb. Think about the cost to society, the benefit, and any potential risks.

5. Study famous Christian engineers​

There are Christian engineers, but workplace propriety, shame and our society at large conspire to keep them quiet. It’s important for our kids to know that they aren’t alone.

Try this: Check out this list of famous scientists and engineers who believe in Christ. You may want to pick from among this list to find those who more closely align with your specific beliefs. Salt and Lightspeed will be creating activity packets to highlight some of these great Christian thinkers, both past and present, so subscribe if you want news about our up-and-coming Christian engineer mini units!

How teaching engineering for kids with a christian foundation will make a difference​

If a child grows up confident that engineering is a gift from God, they could add so much more than technical knowledge and skill to the field.

Future engineers who use Wisdom​

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

-Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park

Perhaps more directly than most subjects, engineering can be used in so many ways. We can use our powers of creativity, through engineering, to build or destroy, to save or end life. As Voltaire would say (who am I kidding, I only know this because of Uncle Ben), “With great power comes great responsibility.” None of that progress for progress’s sake, no regard for the consequences mentality. Progress isn’t some higher ideal to strive for. Progress can be bad. If you’re lost, going just for going’s sake is almost certainly going to make you get further away from being found. We need a map, and we have a unique opportunity to help our little engineers learn how to read it as their powers of engineering grow.

Future engineers who Worship​

We humans have such a desire to exalt ourselves into God’s place. Fruit aside, that was heart of the original sin. We’ve been using engineering to do just that since Genesis 11:

“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves”

-Genesis 11:4a

We haven’t stopped trying to build that tower.

Engineering itself, however, is a gift from God. Contrast the attempted building of the Tower of Babel, for example, with the building of the Tabernacle.

“Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every crafstman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work… And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.”

-Exodus 36:2 & 39:43

Worship doesn’t end after the singing stops on Sunday, this is worship! If we are aiming to exalt God, and not ourselves, by giving our time, talents, study, concentration, all to Christ, then we are worshiping him!

Future engineers who Witness​

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

-Matthew 28:19

Go where? Into our cubicles, man caves, woman caves, space stations, webinars, reddit threads and coffee shops.

My prayer as we teach engineering for kids is that we would encourage future men and women who will be ready to give “a reason for the hope that is in [them]” (1 Peter 3:15), who are “not ashamed of the gospel” (Romans 1:16), and who pray to God that he would “bless all the work of [their] hands.” (Deuteronomy 28:12).

Conclusion