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
| [amazon template=iframe image&asin=B001GXD6BU] |
|
Instructions
Step 1 – Take 7 of the craft sticks and tie a rubber band tightly around one end.
Step 2 – Tie another rubber band tightly around the opposite end so all 7 sticks are bound together.
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.
Step 4 – Insert the 7 sticks banded together through the 2 stick bundle as shown in the illustration below.
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.
Step 6 – Use a few rubber bands and attach the plastic spoon on the end.
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.
Thanks so much for the idea! I have posted a link to your instructions on my website. We made these at our local Cub Scout day camp last summer, and my Webelos den made them again.
I love this rubber band catapult. Easy to make 🙂
how far does it launch a marshmallow?
Thank you! I am doing this activity with my Joy school tomorrow! I am so excited! They are going to love it!~
CATAPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULT 4 MRSHMALLOWS (Small size)
Thank you so much! My Webelos had a blast with these!
love it going to make it at home
i like yhis catapult
Gonna make this at Cub Scout party. Can I pin this, on Pinterest?
Cool Catapult that’s what I say. YEAH
This is something I would love to try with my friends and family
Hello I love this
I made this and made a Angry Birds game for my little brother and he loves it! Thank you sooo much!!
this is very helpful for my school project thanks 🙂
Love it!!! I decided to try to aim with it. Its excellent hand held and you can play a target game with cups or hoops
I have made these with my school children. I would actually recommend using different sized small pom poms to launch. The kind you use for craft. 🙂
so easy love it. didn’t cost much. dollar store items.
We’re making these at our library’s summer reading program — what fun! I’ve seen this type of catapult before, but the addition of a plastic spoon seems easier & more fun than the bottle cap most of the catapults use. Thanks! 🙂
Thank you for this AMAZING idea! I am making one for a class project and I probably (99.9% chance) will get an A+ on it!
Hi I just love marshmallows so I launched it in my mouth and chewed. Thanks for an awesome idea Devin! 🙂 :p
really helpful for sciece have to get a good grade. love the idea. will tell girl scouts so they can start doing this too. thank you so much. my god be with you.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I DID THIS ACTIVITY WITH MY FRIENDS AT MY CARE HOME! SO FUN! WE LOVE TO HIT OUR GRANDCHILDREN WITH ROCKS NOW!
This is so awesome! I am using it for a second year with 90 grade 5 students. They absolutely love decorating them with felt pens, and shooting off anything they think won’t put an eye out.
it is very helpful
It’s a awesome idea thx 🙂
I made this in my class and I loved it! Very easy and thorough! 10/10!
i love this!!! My boyfriend and i have so much fun doing this together! Thanks for the gr8 idea ! best idea since sliced bread.
This is EXACTLY what we are looking for. My husband is also a Den Leader, and they are working on their Engineering Requirement! This will be inexpensive, simple and most importantly, FUN!
thanks alot we used it as a project and i think we’ll win!!!!!!
Brilliant idea and so easy to make!!! just making a few now for my son’s ‘knights and castles’ birthday party. Will make it into a game giving each kid an empty clean big yoghurt pot and see who can put more marshmallows/pompoms in each pot. Should be fun!
I’m using colourful sticks (bag of 80 sticks for £1) to make them even more appealing.
Thanks!!
Love this! Thanks for the how-to!
This tutorial is GREAT! Thank you!! It’s simple, clean, and easy to understand. I will be using this for our upcoming week at VBS.
This was really helpful
Thank you! We needed an activity to draw dads to a sign up table at church. This is easy, inexpensive and a great activity for a dad and kid to do together quickly!
Our cubs did this a couple of years ago and they had a great night.
THANK YOU for such clear instructions – our Beaver Scout group will love it!
this is one of the best catapults i ever used. everyone should try this out!
Thanks so much!!!
Thanks for a great write up! I have used marshmallow catapults for my after-school program and they loved it!
I teach 1st grade. I think we’ll make these and use them in math (measuring distances) and writing (“how-to”)!
Thank you!
We have made these several times and the kids thoroughly enjoy them.
Thanks it worked
It is awsome
This is great thing