2025 Space to Dream Challenge Course

A Free Design Thinking Digital Challenge for Children and Young People

Design a toy or gadget for someone your age… who’s moving to Mars!

What is Space to Dream?

Space to Dream is a free, curriculum-aligned Design Thinking challenge for Australian students in Years 2–8. Delivered in partnership with the Commissioner for Children and Young People (SA) and Makers Empire, this fun, hands-on challenge helps students build design thinking, creativity, and STEM skills while imagining life on Mars.

In 2025, Makers Empire is launching again an exciting fully interactive Online Space to Dream Challenge Course within the Makers Empire 3D design app, now across Australia!

What’s New in 2025?

Key Dates

The new Space to Dream Challenge Course offers students a guided, in-app learning experience filled with video content, interactive quizzes, and step-by-step design tutorials — all building towards a final Mars-themed design challenge.

Your students will:

✅ Learn from inspiring videos featuring Aussies working in the space sector
✅ Test their knowledge with fun, in-app quizzes
✅ Follow expert-led tutorials to level up their 3D design skills
✅ Complete a design thinking challenge


Design a toy or gadget for a child moving to Mars!

All entries are eligible for a national design competition, with selected winning designs 3D printed and featured in an online exhibition.

📌 Date

📌 Event

Term 3

Challenge Opens

June – July

Best time to register your school

Term 3 End

Challenge Closes

October

Winners Announced

December

Online Exhibition begins at the Australian Space Discovery Centre

Who Can Join?

Primary schools in all states and territories

Libraries (great for school holiday programs)

Homeschoolers (individually or in groups)

Community organisations, including Scouts and Guides

In 2023, over 4,000 students across Australia and internationally took part in Space to Dream. Now it’s your turn!

What’s Included?

Access to the interactive Space to Dream Challenge Course in Makers Empire’s 3D app

A downloadable Teacher Guide with curriculum links and extension activities

The opportunity for students’ work to be featured in the Space to Dream Online Exhibition

Optional free support from Makers Empire’s Learning team

Why Space to Dream Matters

Backed by the 2022 UniSA research, Makers Empire has been proven to:

Improve students’ spatial reasoning and design thinking

Boost confidence, especially among girls

Increase positive attitudes toward STEM learning

Inspire more students to pursue STEM in the future

Space to Dream Challenge Information

Who is this for?
  • The Space to Dream Challenge Course is open to all Australian school students in Years 2-8. It is ideal for Australian primary school teachers keen to do an engaging cross-curricular project that covers Technologies, local history and space industry heritage.
  • Teachers may register their class or groups of students for the program.

Individual students may also register to participate in the program.

The challenge has been designed for grades 2-8 students.

To develop students’ design thinking, creativity, and STEM skills by engaging them in a real-world, space-themed design challenge that encourages empathy, problem-solving, and innovation.

Students who participate in this challenge will:

  • Develop their 3D design skills. 
  • Use their design skills to communicate ideas and create awareness.
  • Gain a participation certificate.
  • Have the opportunity to have their designs selected for an online exhibition in term 4, 2025.
How do students complete the challenge?
  • Students may complete the Challenge Course and competition anytime during term 3.
  •  The Challenge Course is accessed through the Makers Empire App. Through purpose-made video content, a real-world, space-themed design challenge that encourages empathy, problem-solving, and innovation. Students respond to the video content by participating in in-app quizzes and related design tutorials. The Challenge Course concludes with a design thinking project.
  • Other activity ideas will be provided via the teacher guide.
  • Selected designs will be exhibited in an online exhibition.
  • Certificates will be made available for participating students.
  • Brand new Space to Dream Challenge Course within the Makers Empire 3D app comprising videos, quizzes, design tutorials and Design Thinking challenges.
  • Teacher Guide.
  • Teacher webinar(s) and weekly emails providing support and scaffolding.

Yes, this program aligns with the Australian Curriculum.

The Challenge Course is expected to take 3-5 hours to complete. Additional activities provided could take a further 3-10 hours.

Yes, absolutely! We can set up a complimentary trial account for your school to participate in this challenge if you are not a Makers Empire customer.

Register now for the Space to Dream Challenge Course

Open to all Australian schools, libraries, homeschoolers & community groups.

Students can login to Makers Empire using the above platforms. We recommend Google Classroom as it syncs with your classes.