Kids at the Girls and Boys Club of Orange hopped and sang with pent-up energy after school Tuesday. But a new "toy" got them quiet with concentration. They didn't realize they were learning engineering skills and teamwork.

The Salvation Army of Orange had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new Rigamajig system designed for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills.

Captain Jan Zuniga said the Army got a grant from Rebuild Texas Harvey recovery program along with KaBOOM Toys to pay for the $6,600 toy system.

The system comes with polished wood pieces including different sizes planks and wheels. Nuts and bolts, pulleys and strings, and other widgets and gadgets are included.

Zuniga gave three teams of children with an adult a 20-minute challenge to design something on wheels that could carry a glass of water without spilling a drop. Each team got the same items.

The Salvation Army wants to share the Rigamajig system with "everybody in the county, from Bridge City, to Mauriceville, to Vidor," Zuniga said. Civic groups, schools, and churches are invited to borrow the system to make their own engineering design activities.

She said Rigamajig can bring people together and "forget about everything that happened last year."

Read the original article at KOGT Radio.