Design Skill Builders

Checkered pattern filled with block colors and pencil line illustrations.

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.

 

Design Skills

Observe

Illustrated animation of a pair of eyes wearing glasses and picking up and looking through a magnifying glass.

Understand

Illustrated animation of two blob characters talking to each other, speech bubbles appear over their heads.

Collaborate

Illustration of two hands giving a high five.
Coming Soon

Research

Illustration of of graph, speech bubble, and a book.
Coming Soon

Brainstorm

Illustrated animation of a light bulb and many bubble appearing around it, creating a brainstorm map.

Iterate

Illustrated animation of many cups appearing across the screen.

Prototype

Illustrated animation of paper being cut, folded, and constructed into a cp.

Play

Illustrated animation of paper rolling, folding, and unfolding.

Refine

Illustration of the handle of a cup being erased and redrawn.
Coming Soon

Share

Illustration of three blob figures with different facial expressions. Above are speech bubbles each with a different symbol such as a heart, question mark, and a star.
Coming Soon

Storytell

Illustration of a light bulb, followed by a curving numbered path, ending in a love heart.
Coming Soon