To change things up from my regular posts, I decided to write instructions on how to make a simple catapult. I’m a Den Leader for my local Webelos cub scouts group and we are working on the engineering activity badge. One of the requirements of the activity badge is to built a catapult. This catapult can be used as a craft idea for kids on a slow weekend or it can be used as a school project.

When finished, I found that the best items to launch from this type of catapult was mini marshmallows commonly found for a few dollars at a grocery store.

I chose a simple design that would be easy for the boys to follow and would allow plenty of time to launch marshmallows at a target. Many designs (including the one provided in the scout handbook) were fairly complex and would require a long time to built. Some I saw were just as big as the scouts themselves. After following these instructions, it only took the scouts about 10 minutes to complete everything and start participating in trying out their new catapult.

If you’d like to print these instructions, download this PDF.

Materials
  • 9 craft sticks. Popsicle sticks may work, but wider sticks are much better. They can be found online at amazon or at your local craft store (I found some at Michaels for around $10)
  • 4-6 rubber bands
  • 1 plastic spoon

Supplies

Instructions

Step 1 – Take 7 of the craft sticks and tie a rubber band tightly around one end.

Craft sticks

 

Step 2 – Tie another rubber band tightly around the opposite end so all 7 sticks are bound together.

Craft Sticks Step 2

 

Step 3 – Take the remaining 2 sticks and tie a rubber band on one of the ends. Try to tie the band close to the edge of the sticks.

Craft Sticks Step 3

 

Step 4 – Insert the 7 sticks banded together through the 2 stick bundle as shown in the illustration below.

Craft Sticks Step 4

 

Step 5 – Tie a rubber band in a cross fashion joining the two pieces. The closer the 7 stick bundle gets to the edge, the more leverage the catapult will have.

Craft Sticks Step 5

 

Step 6 - Use a few rubber bands and attach the plastic spoon on the end.

Mini Marshmallow Catapult

 

If these instructions helped you in anyway, please leave me a comment or link to this page so others can find these instructions as well.