Daily STREAM Activity: Catapult

Build a catapult and launch items as far as you can!

Activity best for children age 2 and up

Force is a push or a pull. When you throw a ball to another friend you are using force to move that ball. If you leave the ball on the grass does anything happen to the ball? When the ball is falling down into your friend’s hand that is gravity pulling the ball down back towards earth. Building a catapult lets you be an engineer by designing a machine that uses force to launch an object. You’ll also be a scientist by measuring how hard you want to apply that force and measuring how far your launched object will go.

Materials you’ll need:

Popsicle sticks (10)

Rubber bands (5)

Spoon 

Cotton balls

Pom poms

Optional: tape to make your landing site

Optional: measuring tape or ruler to measure the distance

Optional: cups to catch the pom poms 

Optional: blocks to knock down

Guiding Questions:

Guess how far the pom poms will go.

If you press down harder on the catapult will the pom poms go farther? Press down lighter?

What happens if you try to launch something heavier?

How many launches does it take to knock down a building made of blocks?

What if the catapult is far away from the blocks or closer to the blocks?

Can you launch the pom poms into the cups?

How high can the pom poms go?

How do rockets today get launched into the air? Is this the same idea as a catapult?

Directions

STEP 1
Take seven of the popsicle sticks and stack them together. Use a rubber band on each end to keep the sticks together.

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STEP 2
Take two of the sticks and stack them together. Use only one rubber band at one end. It should look like an opened duck bill. Slide one of the sticks under the stack of seven and wedge the stack of seven nice and tight.

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STEP 3
Take the spoon and place it on the stick that is up at an angle. Use the two rubber bands to hold the spoon in place on the stick.

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STEP 4
Place a pom pom or cotton ball on the spoon. Hold the catapult with one hand and use the other hand to launch the pom pom. Observe how far it goes.

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STEP 5
Try to launch cotton balls into cups or launch small balls at a building you made of blocks. Try to knock down the building.

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Grown ups, are you looking for more ways to extend your child’s learning? Check out these extension activities to build upon today’s STREAM activity!

Reading Connection
Forces Make Things Move by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
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Science Connection
Use a large ball like a basketball to knock down a building you made of blocks. Can you build a defense wall to protect the blocks from the force of the ball you launch?

Math Connections
Using a measuring tape, measure how far you can launch the items.