This activity teaches children the basics of structural integrity through constructing prototypes that must support a weight. The children create the towers using straws and a limited supply of paper clips and tape. The children must also build their towers to meet given size constraints. When a prototype is completed, the children put the weight on the structure. Often their tower buckles, and we give them recommendations on how to improve the structural integrity, including methods such as cross bracing. With this information, the children can construct a structure that easily supports the load without any joints receiving extraneous stress.