Engineering For Kids of Northern Virginia

Engineering For Kids of Northern Virginia offers after-school programs, evening classes, camps, birthday parties, and special events that include Robotics, Interactive Engineering, Technology & Coding, Minecraft, and Esports. The program also runs space-themed STEM programs such as Missions & Mechanics (Mechanical Engineering Summer Program), Orbiters and Landers (Aerospace Engineering Summer Program), Survival on the Red Planet (Multidisciplinary Engineering Summer Program), Mission to Mars with Minecraft (Minecraft Technology Summer Program), and Robotic Mission to Mars (Robotics Summer Program). Kids take part in hands-on projects like building their own robo-arm, taking core samples from a potato, attempting to land an egg, designing and building a physical prototype of their own Mars base, building with Lego SPIKE, and programming robots.

• Ages: 4–14 years old

Engineering For Kids began in 2009 and has grown to over 90 locations across 23 countries, serving more than 350,000 students since its start. Its mission statement says that Engineering For Kids inspires kids ages 4 to 14 to build on their innate desire for answers by exploring engineering concepts in a fun, hands-on way. The organization is accredited by STEM.org and is Cognia certified, and it uses EFK’s Engineering Design Process in programs that include hands-on STEM challenges across multiple engineering disciplines, including aerospace, chemical, civil, electrical, electronic, environmental, industrial, marine, mechanical, robotics, and software. Some programs use Minecraft as a simulation tool in Mission to Mars with Minecraft and Lego SPIKE in Robotic Mission to Mars. Parent and student comments about the program include, “I was amazed by the brilliance.” (Melissa F.), “Engineering For Kids classes are so fun and you get to learn new things about engineering each day.” (Kyleigh T.), and “It’s like a playground for their mind!” (Sang K.).

Last updated July 18, 2026.