Popsicle Stick Catapult

Catapults were mighty handy for pirates in the golden age of piracy (during the 17th century). And medieval knights used them centuries earlier for taking down massive castle walls. Even Greeks and Romans used catapults about 2,000 years ago! These simple machines are quite handy, as long as you know how to aim them! In this science activity you will try your hand at catapult technology. Can you predict where your cotton ball will land? Read more

Inspire students of all ages to enjoy STEM when you let them loose in a creative makerspace! These hands-on engineering activities use simple materials and encourage students to brainstorm, problem solve, and innovate. Enabling Exploration Community makerspaces… Read more

Follow along with a Science Buddies parent who is using family STEM activities to keep her kids learning at home during the COVID-19 school shutdown. New posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today's adventure... taking aim with a homemade popsicle stick catapult. Making Do with What You Have Are you the kind of person who starts with the end product and then figures out the list of things you need to make that happen, or are you the kind of… Read more

Join Science Buddies this summer for virtual summer camp! Each week, we'll highlight fun STEM themes for kids of all ages, including suggestions for simple hands-on activities, book picks, and more. We'll keep you inspired all summer with creative and innovative science and engineering activities — for free. This week: big-top science with fun activities that tap into the spirit of the local fair, circus, or amusement park. Carnival STEM Amusement… Read more

Use these free lesson plans and hands-on activities to explore potential and kinetic energy with students! What happens when you stretch a rubber band and let it go? Why? Explaining how energy is stored and transferred and how that relates to the movement and momentum of objects in motion involves understanding potential and kinetic energy. This is an area of science where getting hands-on with the storage, transfer, and release of energy really helps… Read more

Try these clever STEM activities to connect hands-on science and engineering to the ever-popular world of Mario! Let's-a go! Your kids and students probably know Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and the Mario World gang, and chances are you do, too! March 10 is Mario Day, so known because in the right typeface, M A R 1 0 looks like M A R I O. (Once you see it, you see it!) This is the kind of clever… Read more

As the end of the school year approaches, these activities can be great fillers in between testing, in odd spaces in your schedule, or just for general end-of-the-year fun. 8 Free STEM Ideas to Fill End-of-Year Time The final weeks of the school year often mean varied schedules and pockets of time in the classroom that can be hard to fill. The activities featured here use simple materials and are easy to do with students even in small amounts of time.… Read more

Check in each week at Science Buddies this summer for our Awesome Summer Science Experiments series! Each week, we'll highlight a few activities for awesome science and engineering kids can do at home. We've got a whole summer of fun STEM themes lined up for kids of all ages — for free. This week: awesome summer science experiments with rubber bands! Awesome Rubber Band STEM Rubber bands are fun to stretch and even fun to fling across the room.… Read more

Use these free STEM lessons and activities to help students get hands-on building, testing, and exploring the science of energy and the different types of potential and kinetic energy. From the classic snake-in-a-can prank to stretching and shooting rubber bands across the room, bouncing a basketball, or rolling a marble down a ramp, kids know energy in motion when they see it. The world is full of energy, and energy is constantly being used,… Read more

Making learning fun is sometimes half the battle! With the right activities, educators can ensure learning about science and engineering involves hands-on fun for students of all ages. Build in some stretchy science fun with STEM experiments that use rubber bands! Stretchy STEM Science! Rubber bands are fun to stretch. What happens when you let them go? They might fly! Can you use the stretchiness of a rubber band to send other things flying or create… Read more

Inspire students to explore science and engineering with activities related to pirate-themed play and storytelling. Sail the Seven Seas with Pirate Science Ahoy, matey! Pirate-themed imaginative play may have kids walking the plank, weighing anchor, studying the night sky and the movement of the ocean, using a spyglass to watch for other ships, perusing maps, and dreaming of treasure. This set of science and engineering activities helps kids explore… Read more

Use wooden craft sticks or popsicle sticks for hands-on STEM activities! STEM Projects with Simple Materials Doing hands-on science doesn't have to involve expensive or specialty materials. The projects highlighted below all feature wooden craft or popsicle sticks! Hands-on STEM Activities Using Popsicle Sticks Popsicle Stick Chain Reaction: Interweave wooden craft sticks in an exploration of… Read more