1 Who can enter

The Challenge is open to students in grades 6 through 12 at public, private, charter, parochial, and homeschool cooperative programs in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Every team must be registered by a sponsoring adult: a teacher, librarian, club advisor, or homeschool parent. The sponsoring adult is our point of contact for all correspondence and is responsible for supervising the build.

Students do not register individually. Registration is by school or program.

2 Capacity and registration

Registration closes Thursday, October 15, 2026, or when we reach 24 teams, whichever comes first. If we reach capacity, the form stays open for waitlist registration. Spots do open as schools adjust their plans, and we contact waitlisted schools in registration order.

If your school registers more teams than we have remaining spots, we will offer you the spots available rather than turn you away.

3 Divisions

Projects are judged in two separate divisions, and a full set of prizes is awarded in each.

A team with students spanning both ranges competes in the division of its oldest member.

4 Team size and team limits

• A team is 2 to 4 students. Solo entries are not accepted, since collaboration is part of what we are looking for. Four is the practical ceiling for a project this size, and a fifth student almost always ends up as a passenger.
• Each school or program may enter up to 3 teams, in any combination of divisions.
• A student may be on only one team.
• Adults may advise, ask questions, and supervise safety. Adults may not design, build, or troubleshoot the mechanism. Judges will ask students to explain their own work.

Your registration asks for an estimated team count and size. The actual roster is not due until your February submission.

5 Materials

What we provide. Each registered team receives 20 pounds of our free-flowing play sand at no cost, distributed October 26 through November 2, 2026, by pickup at Sandmagination or delivery to your school. A school with three teams receives 60 pounds.

What you supply. Everything else. There is no budget cap, but the judging rubric rewards ingenuity over expense, and in contests like this one the cardboard-and-string entries often beat the laser-cut ones.

Power sources. The mechanism's motive power must come from sand, gravity, water, springs, or human input. Motors, batteries, and compressed gas may not drive the mechanism. Small electronics are permitted for lighting, sensors, timers, or displays that observe or decorate the mechanism without powering it.

6 Build requirements

• Footprint: no larger than 36 inches by 36 inches at the base.
• Height: no taller than 48 inches.
• Weight: under 50 pounds fully assembled, and liftable by two students.
• Containment: all sand must stay inside the project during operation. Trays, catch basins, and sealed reservoirs are fine and encouraged.
• Assembly: if the project travels in pieces, it must be assembled by the team in under 10 minutes.

Not permitted: open flame, pyrotechnics, pressurized vessels, glass as a structural element, projectiles that leave the footprint, exposed blades, and any chemical reaction producing heat or gas.

7 What to submit

All submissions are digital and are due by 11:59 PM on Monday, February 1, 2027. Upload instructions go out to registered sponsors in January.

1. Operation video, 3 minutes maximum. One continuous unedited shot of the mechanism running start to finish, so judges can see it actually works. Cuts and titles are fine before and after that shot, but not during it.
2. Design brief, 2 pages maximum. What the mechanism does, how sand drives it, the historical idea behind it, and what failed along the way. We read the failure section closely. A team that documents four broken prototypes is telling us more than a team that reports none.
3. Photographs, 5 to 10 images showing the build in progress and the finished project.
4. Team roster listing every student, grade, and the sponsoring adult.

8 How judging works

Round one is remote. Every project is scored from its video and design brief. No travel required.

Round two is in person. The top three teams in each division are invited to bring their physical project to the ceremony, where judges run it and talk with the students. Finalists are notified in early February.

Judges are drawn from local educators, engineers, and the Sandmagination team. Judging decisions are final. In a tie, the higher score in mechanical function wins.

Scoring

Each project is scored out of 100 points.

9 Prizes

Awarded in each division:

• $175First prize
• $75Second prize

Total prize pool is $500 across both divisions.

Prize money is paid to the school or program, which distributes it to the team according to its own policy. Sponsors should confirm with their district business office before registering, since some districts require a donation acceptance vote.

10 Judging and award ceremony

The ceremony is held in February 2027 at Sandmagination, Northshore Mall, Peabody. The exact date goes out with the January submission instructions.

A few things to plan around:

• Sandmagination is a barefoot venue. Shoes and socks are never allowed on the play floor. Students, teachers, and family members attending should plan accordingly.
• Finalist teams should arrive 45 minutes early to set up.
• Families are welcome. Please give us a headcount two weeks out so we can plan the space.
• We photograph and record the ceremony. A parental media release will be sent with the January instructions and must be returned for each student appearing in coverage.

11 Key dates

12 Questions

Sponsoring adults may contact us at any point during the build. We would much rather answer a rules question in November than disqualify a project in February. If your team has an idea and you are unsure whether it meets the sand-as-a-working-medium requirement, ask us and we will tell you.

Jason Stadtlander & Katerina Krumova, PhD | info@sandmagination.com | 978.482.4297