![]() Children will learn cause and effect, theories of motion, trajectory, and so much more. This catapult activity is a great rainy day idea for your childcare, but it’s full of science concepts that can teach your kids new things at any time. Once they’ve completed the catapult, they can have a ball-launching competition! Classroom Management in the Library (Part 1).Are you looking for a science activity for your young kids? Teach them how to make a catapult from popsicle sticks.Effective Behavior Redirection Strategies Classroom Management in the Library (Part 2).Let’s keep them circulating…because providing access to information is what librarians do best. I hope that you will similarly find information here useful. Blogs allowed me to look through ideas and use the programs and resources posted as models for my own community. Their writing and photos–so generously shared–became my mentors. Blogs, however, put the knowledge and experience of my colleagues within my reach. When I became a Youth Services Librarian, everything was new. Whether it is with our patrons, or our colleagues, we do everything we can to provide access to ideas for anyone who asks. What I admire most about librarians is how much they love sharing information. ![]() This was the most popular STEM activity we have done so far, and it was incredibly fun! It was also very inexpensive, even though we had a large group. Some of the kids lost their pom-pom, so I did give them another one. We had about 15 minutes of lining up where I would count down, “Fire in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” and then the room would explode in pom-poms! The kids ran to grab their pom-pom when it flew off. All the kids listened and followed the rule!). Then, I asked them to line up and fire in a row towards an empty wall (after reminding them that we never fire our catapult off at someone. I then gave them 10 minutes to fire off and play. When everyone was done making their catapult, I brought them back into our Storytime room (where we had begun) and gave them each one pom-pom. Then, even though there was tons of kids, I was about to talk to the group and give directions, “First you take seven Popsicle sticks and rubber band them together….” and go around to each table to help answer any questions. I also had an example of what a completed catapult looks like at each table. I had all the supplies except for the pom-poms on the table. Rubber bands (I bought a huge bag at the dollar store because they came in all sizes and thicknesses).Now for the fun part! I told the kids it was now time to begin building catapults! I forget the image that I found, although if I do find it, I will upload it ASAP!) Using their arm, I had them point to where each part would be. I had this image on my projector, so I did tell the kids all the parts of a catapult. I then asked them to draAnd what happens to all that energy? It gets released! Then I asked the kids “fire” their catapult, which meant that their right hand reversed the motion of drawing back. I told them this would simulate their catapult. Then, I had the kids holdup their right arm, and then grab their elbow with their left hand. It is always fun to have a guest, and the parents gave me great comments afterwards that they learned something from his 5 minute history lesson. After about 7 responses, I asked my guest speaker, a local professor of history at our local college to talk about the history of catapults. I asked them to tell me what they knew about catapults, and I answered questions or clarified their answers as they kept raising their hands to talk. To begin the program, I brought all the kids into our programming room and had them sit on the floor. Mangonels are simple machines and first class levers. The type of catapult we built is a mangonel. How to make a catapult for kids (YouTube video) This is very similar to the design that we made, however, we rubber handed a plastic spoon on the catapult where the person in the video is placing a penny, and we used pom-poms to avoid any injuries! To prep, I learned as much as I could about catapults. We had 120 people attend, including about 60 parents/children who I had never seen in the library before! This has been my most popular STEM program.
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