Let's build!
Build League is a 2-hour workshop for 4th–7th graders where we use open-ended engineering challenges to practice the lifelong skills of teamwork, grit, and productive struggle. Whether builders go on to be activists, engineers, or artists, failure is an inherent step on the path to success, so Build League embraces failure!
Each session starts with a build challenge and an intentionally defective initial prototype to give a sense of the building materials available. Builders then form teams and iterate through cycles failure, learning, and iteration. The session climaxes with a competition between teams. We end with a debrief about what participants learned about engineering, teamwork, grit, and themselves as builders.
About
Joel Segre founded The Build League in 2025, starting with his two boys, their friends, and neighborhood kids. After 20 sessions in the garage, Build League is opening up to a broader community.
Much of Joel's inspiration comes from Lance Akiyama at STEM Inventions, whose free, project-based STEM curricula have helped make hands-on engineering accessible to educators everywhere.
Community Resources for Science has provided crucial inputs to Season 2, including an incredible pipeline of projects and talent.
East Bay Makers Club hosts Build League 9:30–11:30am on some weekend mornings. We are still working out a consistent schedule.