Chindōgu is the Japanese artform of inventing and constructing consumer products that are functional, yet completely useless. Examples include the solar-powered flashlight, a flashlight that only works when outside on a sunny day, and the zen garden litter box. In this activity students have the opportunity to work on an engineering design team to develop a Chindōgu inspired solution to a problem of their choosing. Activity instructions include an introduction, problem/criteria/constraints, procedure, self-evaluation questions, and rubric. Students are asked to document their design process in an engineering notebook, but you can modify the activity if you do not use these.