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Tiny-House Client Challenge

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Grades 6-875-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Teams design a tiny house floor plan for a fictional client, balancing square footage, utility hookups, accessibility needs, and a strict budget.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • Decision matrix sheetPrintinguse what you have
  • graph paperBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 35 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 20 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Tiny-House Client Challenge, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Read a client brief describing needs like wheelchair access or a home office and predict which design tradeoffs will be hardest to balance.
  2. Draft a scaled floor plan and build a cardboard model that fits the required square footage and budget.
  3. Check the design against the client's full checklist, discover a requirement like accessibility clearance was missed, and revise the layout to fit it in.
  4. Pitch the finished tiny house to the client with the model and a budget breakdown.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Tiny-House Client Challenge when it can pitch the finished tiny house to the client with the model and a budget breakdown and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

graph paper, ruler, scissors, cardboard for a scale model, tape, colored pencils; Decision matrix sheet

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Read the client brief and write your own precise criteria (wheelchair turning circle of 1.5 meters, home office, natural light in main room) and constraints (maximum area, budget, solar panel size, local building limits). Note the science behind energy choices, like south-facing windows and insulation, and environmental impacts.
  2. Draft at least two different scaled floor plans that try to meet the brief in different ways.
  3. Check each plan with a measuring checklist: clearances, square footage, budget total, and window placement.
  4. Score both plans in a decision matrix against every criterion and constraint, weighting what the client cares about most.
  5. Build a cardboard model of the winning plan and check it again against the matrix, fixing any missed requirement.
  6. Pitch the tiny house to the client with the model, the matrix, and a budget breakdown.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-1

    Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-2

    Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.