• About
    • All About Us
    • Contact
    • Disclosures
    • Privacy
    • Giveaway Rules
    • Sponsor
    • Features
  • Favorite Supplies
  • Gift Ideas for Kids
  • Our Books
  • By Age
    • Tweens
    • Elementary
    • Kindergarten
    • Preschool
    • Toddler
    • For Parents
    • For Teachers

Buggy and Buddy

Meaningful Activities for Learning & Creating

  • Create
    • Art Projects for Kids
    • Crafts for Kids
    • Recipes for Playing & Creating
  • Learn
    • Literacy
      • Book Sets
      • The Alphabet
      • Reading
      • Children’s Books with Activities
    • Math
    • Science
    • NGSS Science
  • Holidays
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • 4th of July
    • Chinese New Year
    • Christmas
    • Earth Day
    • Easter
    • Father’s Day
    • Halloween
    • Mother’s Day
    • New Year’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
    • School Days
    • Birthdays
    • Tooth Fairy
  • Books Activities
  • Science
  • Printables
  • SHOP
You are here: Home / By Age / Elementary / STEM Activity for Kids: Popsicle Stick Catapults

September 28, 2015 By Chelsey 4 Comments

STEM Activity for Kids: Popsicle Stick Catapults

Share
Pin1.7K
Tweet
1.7KShares

Recently the kids and I made popsicle stick catapults from Asia Citro’s newest book, The Curious Kid’s Science Book. The craft stick catapults were super fun and a great learning experience for both my preschooler and 2nd grader! And, after reading through The Curious Kid’s Science Book, we’ve got many more science activities we can’t wait to try!

Disclosure:  I was sent a complimentary copy of this book to review.  All thoughts and opinions are definitely my own. See my full disclosure policy here. This post contains affiliate links.

 

Science for Kids: Explore Popsicle Stick Catapults (from The Curious Kid's Science Book) ~ BuggyandBuddy.com

The Curious Kid’s Science Book

I knew after trying out all kinds of cool kids’ activities from Asia Citro’s first book, 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids, that her newest book centered around science was going to be an absolute hit!

 

The Curious Kid's Science Book

 

The Curious Kid’s Science Book is packed with over 100 quality science activities for children ages 4-8. Not only is every activity in the book an amazing learning experience, but what makes this science resource really stand out is how the science experiments actually promote inquiry and scientific thinking. And, I absolutely love how The Curious Kid’s Science Book includes ways to extend the learning of each activity, as well as provides questions to promote even more critical thinking.

This is definitely a high-quaility, must-own STEM resource for educators and parents!

 

Popsicle Stick Catapults

One of the first science activities my kids wanted to try from the book was making popsicle stick catapults. I was absolutely thrilled to see all the learning that took place with this science activity. Both Theo (age 4) and Lucy (age 7) were enthralled with the activity and came up with all kinds of theories and predictions when using the catapults!

Materials for Popsicle Stick Catapults

  • Popsicle Sticks
  • Rubber bands
  • Plastic spoon
  • Pom poms
  • Optional: Paint

how to make a catapult with popsicle sticks

 

Directions for Making Popsicle Stick Catapults

*We painted our craft sticks ahead of time (with our favorite tempera paint), because the kids just love to paint! But, you can also buy craft sticks that are already colored or just use plain craft sticks.

1.  Make a stack of popsicle sticks and rubber band them together on each end.

2. Take two additional popsicle sticks and stack them together. Rubberband them together on just one end.

3. Pull the two popsicle sticks slightly apart and place the larger stack of popsicle sticks in between them.

4. Rubber band the stack of popsicle sticks to just the upper popsicle stick.

5. Rubber band a spoon to the upper popsicle stick.

6. Place a pom pom onto the spoon.

7. Hold the catapult with one hand, and use the other hand to pull the spoon down. Release the spoon to launch your pom pom!

 

STEM for Kids: How to Make Catapults with Popsicle Sticks

 

Using the Craft Stick Catapults

The kids started out by using the catapults over and over. They had a blast launching pom poms all over the backyard using their homemade catapults!

 

STEM for Kids: How to Make Catapults with Popsicle Sticks

 

After a while they started coming up with new things to try. Lucy wondered what would happen if she moved the spoon further out from the catapult. Would the pom poms travel further?

 

STEM for Kids: How to Make Catapults with Popsicle Sticks

 

Theo decided to try launching more than one pom pom at the same time to see what would happen. Would they all travel the same distance?

 

STEM for Kids: How to Make Catapults with Popsicle Sticks

 

I loved watching how this science activity led to all kinds of theories and predictions- such an awesome, hands-on experiment that the kids just had a blast with! We can’t wait to try all the others!

Where to Buy The Curious Kid’s Science Book

I’m definitely planning on giving copies of The Curious Kid’s Science Book as gifts to the kids’ teachers this year, as well as lots of my friends with young children- such a great resource for anyone that wants to encourage curiosity and a love of learning in their children!

The book is available world wide: You can buy copies of The Curious Kid’s Science Book at any of the stores below:

The Curious Kid’s Science Book on Amazon

The Curious Kid’s Science Book on Barnes & Noble

The Curious Kid’s Science Book on Book Depository

Asia is also offering science kits that correlate with the book! These would make a great gift for any child or teacher! You can find out more about the science kids here and purchase them here on Amazon.

 

 

Filed Under: Elementary, Kindergarten, Science Tagged With: book review, catapult, popsicle sticks, science, STEM

« Faux Stained Glass Suncatcher Craft for Kids
Spider Web Science Activity for Kids for Halloween »

Comments

  1. Emma says

    September 29, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    This is one of our favorite DIY toys – and they’re actually pretty sturdy too! Looks like your kiddos are enjoying them!

    Reply
  2. Proud Black Grandma says

    September 12, 2017 at 6:02 am

    This didnt work. It only does backflips. So, we enrolled it in gymnastics. It even won first place in Nationals! Very proud! His name is FREDSTICK!!!! He also has two siblings! Billy and Bobby. (Which he tied to chairs)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Let the science exploring begin!...CATAPULTS - Prosser Public Library says:
    January 29, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    […] PROJECT #2:  Craft Stick Catapult […]

    Reply
  2. 27 Greatest Science Projects for Kids - Hobbycraft Blog says:
    August 13, 2016 at 2:01 am

    […] Lolly Stick Catapults by Buggy and Buddy […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

New? Start here…

Welcome to Buggy and Buddy! I'm Chelsey, a former teacher and parent living on the central coast of California. I love sharing crafts, science, STEM and STEAM activities, free printables and more! Read More…

Popular This Week

  • Straw Rockets- fun science activity for kids! (w/ Free Rocket Template) ~ BuggyandBuddy.com STEM for Kids: Straw Rockets (with Free Rocket Template)
  • Chinese New Year Crafts and Activities for Kids 50+ Chinese New Year Crafts and Activities for Kids
  • STEAM / Science for Kids: How to Make a Kaleidoscope- explore reflections , light, and symmetry! (Meets NGSS- Next Generation Science Standards) ~ BuggyandBuddy.com Science for Kids: How to Make a Kaleidoscope
  • How to Make a Kite~ buggyandbuddy.com How to Make a Kite
  • Over 30 Free Printable Scavenger Hunts for Kids 30+ Free Printable Scavenger Hunts for Kids
  • How to Make Snow Dough~ BuggyandBuddy.com How to Make Snow Dough

Copyright © 2021 Buggy and Buddy. All rights reserved. You may not take images or content from this site without written permission.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy