The kids will be tickled when you suggest a snowball fight indoors in the middle of summer.
But it's true – this snowball catapult build is a great way to have a safe indoor snowball fight that will keep the kids busy on a hot or rainy summer day when you're stuck inside. It's also a great STEM project!
There is a little bit of easy engineering involved to build your own snowball throwing machine (aka catapult). Once your machine is built, the kids can fire away.
There's lots of experimenting that can be done with this project and a little imagination. Here are some ideas:
❄️ Have a snowball fight
❄️ Make your own snowball obstacle course
❄️ Compete in snowball races
❄️ Aim for each other!
❄️ See who can get the 'snowball' to go the furthest
Whatever you choose to do with your snow throwing machine, you'll be sure to have a blizzard of fun!
This snowball catapult is great fun for parents too, as we found out. Let's get building!
What you need:
- 5 or more craft sticks
- 3 rubber bands
- 1 plastic spoon
- A supply of cotton balls or pom poms
Directions:
1. Take 4 sticks and stack them, securing one end with a rubber band. You'll need to wrap the rubber band around several times to make it nice and secure. You can play with your throwing distance by adding more sticks to the stack in this step.
2. Slide the last stick between the bottom stick and the rest of the stack so that it sticks out on either side of the stack. It should look like a plus (+) sign
3. Secure the other end of the stack with a rubber band.
4. Line the spoon up (on top of the stack) with the single stick. Attach the end of the spoon to one end of the single stick with the last rubber band. Make it nice and tight!
5. Fire away! Place the cotton ball or pompom on the spoon and FIRE AWAY! (To fire, press down slightly on the tip of the spoon and release.)
Christen Reiner and Beth Marketos are the publisher and assistant publisher of Macaroni KID Downtown Denver.
