Prepare for Launch!

May 17, 2012
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29 comments

My five year old daughter has recently discovered the fun of catapulting things with her spoon. To bring the action a bit further away from the table, I decided to make some very simple catapults out of scrap wood. After dinner we spent the entire evening catapulting Star Wars Lego figures outdoors. It was super funny, and I was surprised at how high the figures were flying. We’re already thinking of more things to launch tomorrow.

Making it was very simple. I just took a strip of scrap wood, and attached a small piece of wood onto the bottom with wood glue. Or, of course, you could just use a spoon. Either way, a pretty fun activity!

29 Responses
  2. Pete

    Super Cool! The kids are going to love this.
    Apart from already being a cool Idea, the mini-figs make for super rad photos.

    Nice!

    1. Joel

      Thanks everyone! Yeah, parachute would be sweet! And yeah Laura, ha, he does sport some pretty sweet pants. I wish I could get away with wearing pants like that.

    3. Joel

      Awesome Maiz! Yeah, I love the fine motor challenge too. A bit different kind of fun when compared to the pounders. ha. Also a good idea with the cotton balls. Marshmallows would be gone very quickly, ending the game!

    1. Joel

      Thanks Phoebe! Yeah, I’m sure you could make some awesome designs on your catapults too! I wanted to try painting mine, but haven’t had the time yet.

    1. Joel

      Wow that looks brilliant! What a great set of toys! I’ll have to make it with the kids next time we go to the beach.

  13. jo

    thanks! these are great! my girls wanted something more elaborate… but after they saw how fast these could be made they were more than happy :)
    i modified it using a plastic lid (off a pop bottle, or a larger tea bottle) and glued & nailed it onto the top to hold a nut easier.
    thanks again,
    jo

  15. TristyK

    Love the idea of simple machines for launching – any form is fun and by making a few different examples as a starting point you can really challenge kids to be inventive and create their own… My long time fav’s for introducing the concept in the classroom has been Lincoln Logs. They lend themselves to this activity quite nicely as they are small, easily knocked down and re-built (adds a sweet little touch of problem solving), only two pieces are needed per catapult so each child can have their own, and aren’t sturdy enough to launch anything dangerous! A smallish (1×2′) flat board with a colander screwed to the top of one side & a fulcrum attached securely to bottom, along with hula-hoop targets and beach balls presents an excellent invitation to practice critical thinking and gross motor skills, too. Wish I had my pic’s on this computer: I have FAB ones of my son with a plank, a small piece of firewood, and his large T-Rex… Maybe next time.