Craft Materials
Before starting this project, you’ll need the following materials:
Hello all, today I’m sharing how to make a DIY Popsicle Stick Catapult. I made this back in the Summer on the Darice blog as a classroom activity. But this is a project that can be done anytime!
Get your little ones ready to soar by launching objects across the house and testing how far they go! Building a catapult is a classic STEM activity for young kids. Tell your kids to get their thinking caps on and start building their catapult!
STEAM Stats:
Building a popsicle stick catapult is a great project for kids to be creative while building their engineering (creating a machine), math (measuring height and distance) and science skills (gravity and force). Yet truly having to think in order to complete the given task.
Let’s Get Started!
DIY Popsicle Stick Catapult Supplies:
Step 1 –
Stack six to eight sticks and rubber band them together at both ends.
Step 2 –
Rubber band two stick together.
Step 3 –
Slide the stack of sticks in between the two sticks that you already banded together.
Step 4 –
Next, use a rubber band to secure all of the craft sticks together. I would demonstrate this part to all your students.
Step 5 –
I used a hot glue gun to help secure a bottle cap to the end of the catapult. This is a perfect spot to set your pom pom balls.
Step 6 –
Finally let the kids design and paint their catapults. Make sure to have lots of paint options and thin paint brushes available!
They can get as creative as they want with this step!
Place your object on the catapult, and use 1 finger to launch it in the air!
To make this even more challenging try different shapes, sizes and weights to test how far each object will go! Mark each spot so you can talk about longest and shortest distances afterwards.
As always thanks for stopping by and checking out my Popsicle Stick Catapult. Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll be happy to answer them!
Looking for more STEAM activities then check out my book Brick Building 101!
