The Wonder Project

On the face of it STEM is dry, boring and dull, particularly to primary school age children who love Minecraft and Roblox. This demanded that the Wonder Project not only looked super cool but also delivered activities and experiences that kids of 6 to 10 would love to be a part of.

A name, identity and palette that balanced cool and credible. Cool - to appeal to children, Credible – so that schools, teachers and parents would see the value. We engaged with the most progressive schools in NZ to learn what fires kids up and how to be relevant in the modern learning environment. We then spent time ideating quick wins like a book 'The Awesome A to Z of How Stuff Works' and more ambitious projects such as kits to send to each school with STEM challenges: 'Build your own rocket" and "Design a wind turbine to power a tiny town".

The first 'Rocket Challenge' kits were so well received that schools around New Zealand came together and held a league competition to see who could design a rocket that flew the furthest. After the pilot year the following results were published by Engineering NZ: 97% of teachers increased their confidence in teaching STEM 98% of teachers and 83% of students said they would do it again 58% of students were more interested in STEM jobs after the challenge 91% of teachers said students were engaged with the programme 97% of ambassadors would recommend the experience to others

Kits were designed to make best use of sustainable and up-cycled materials i.e. plastic bottles, recycled cardboard, used garden hoses and fittings, old bike parts etc.