Design Skill Builders

Design skill builders

Welcome to Design Skill Builders!

These resources provide short, design focused activities that help K-12 students strengthen creative thinking skills across subject areas. When students regularly engage in practice skills like perspective-taking, noticing details, imagining alternatives, and refining ideas, students develop habits that fuel lifelong creativity. Select any of the skills below to explore classroom‑ready activities.

Organized into K–5 and 6–12 collections, each set includes activities, warm-ups, and anchor charts that can stand alone or be used together over time. Many of the resources highlight objects from Cooper Hewitt’s collection, grounding abstract design skills in real world ideas and inviting students to learn directly from the choices designers have made.