TOPEKA - The 2025 Kansas KidWind Challenge kicks off this week. The annual event has grown significantly from one regional challenge with 14 teams participating in 2016 to six regional events with a total of 94 teams from 48 schools competing this year.

The first regional challenge will be held in Hutchinson on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Five more regional events are scheduled throughout the month in Colby (Feb. 11), Dodge City (Feb. 13), Overland Park (Feb. 19), Manhattan (Feb. 25), and Burlington (Feb. 28). All events are open to the public. The 2025 KidWind Event Guide, complete with times and locations, is available here.

Student teams work together to design, build and test a wind turbine using the materials of their choice – no two look alike. Each team’s turbine will be put to the test in a 48" × 48" wind tunnel at a wind speed of approximately 3.5-5 m/s (meters per second). Scoring is based on turbine performance, a knowledge quiz, a presentation to judges where the team explains its design process, and an instant challenge.

Students compete by age categories: 4^th – 5^th grade, 6^th – 8^th grade and 9^th – 12^th grade. The winning teams at regional events advance to the state finals on April 5 in Salina. State winners are invited to participate in the World KidWind Challenge in Phoenix, AZ planned for May 18-21.

“KidWind is a fantastic hands-on opportunity that allows students to tinker and experiment with wind turbine designs. They experience the thrill of scientific discovery as their designs are validated through performance testing, and they hone their public-speaking skills as they present their turbine design to a panel of judges,” explained David Carter, Director of the Kansas Energy Program at K-State Engineering Extension.

Kansas KidWind is an energy-related STEM education event from the Kansas Corporation Commission and K-State Engineering Extension made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

More information about KidWind is available at https://www.kcc.ks.gov/energy-education/kidwind.