Popsicle Stick Catapults
One of the first science activities my kids wanted to try from the book was making popsicle stick catapults. I was absolutely thrilled to see all the learning that took place with this science activity. Both Theo (age 4) and Lucy (age 7) were enthralled with the activity and came up with all kinds of theories and predictions when using the catapults!Materials for Popsicle Stick Catapults
- Popsicle Sticks
- Rubber bands
- Plastic spoon
- Pom poms
- Optional: Paint
Directions for Making Popsicle Stick Catapults
*We painted our craft sticks ahead of time (with our favorite tempera paint), because the kids just love to paint! But, you can also buy craft sticks that are already colored or just use plain craft sticks.1. Make a stack of popsicle sticks and rubber band them together on each end.
2. Take two additional popsicle sticks and stack them together. Rubberband them together on just one end.
3. Pull the two popsicle sticks slightly apart and place the larger stack of popsicle sticks in between them.
4. Rubber band the stack of popsicle sticks to just the upper popsicle stick.
5. Rubber band a spoon to the upper popsicle stick.
6. Place a pom pom onto the spoon.
7. Hold the catapult with one hand, and use the other hand to pull the spoon down. Release the spoon to launch your pom pom!
Using the Craft Stick Catapults
The kids started out by using the catapults over and over. They had a blast launching pom poms all over the backyard using their homemade catapults!
After a while they started coming up with new things to try. Lucy wondered what would happen if she moved the spoon further out from the catapult. Would the pom poms travel further?
Theo decided to try launching more than one pom pom at the same time to see what would happen. Would they all travel the same distance?
I loved watching how this science activity led to all kinds of theories and predictions- such an awesome, hands-on experiment that the kids just had a blast with! We can’t wait to try all the others!
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