BuildItBlocks Catapult Video www BuildItYourself com Catapult Ideas

Build-It-Blocks: Catapult Video www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult Ideas Candy Thrower See if you can get your catapult to throw a piece of candy into your friend’s mouth! You can also use the Air Heads Build-It-Block to make a more stationary target. Confetti/Water Launcher You can use your catapult to throw confetti for a fun celebration, or water to splash your friends! Just replace the basket with a cup to hold more confetti or water. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult Engineering Catapult Throw Distance Function of: 1. Arm length 2. Projectile weight 3. Arm force 4. Angle of release Change these parameters to adjust how far your catapult can throw! www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult Ideas: Not Just For Throwing! Sign Raiser A catapult doesn’t have to throw things! It can also raise a sign that someone can read once the catapult has “fired. ” Just replace the basket of the catapult with a sign. Try using the Graffiti Build-It-Block to make the sign extra cool! Ball Kicker The catapult can also be used to exert large forces and push big objects, like a ball! This can be activated by a small force, perhaps from a small ball hitting a target and pulling the paper clip trigger. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 1 Parts: - Cardboard sheet - 4” x 4” foam sheet - 1 straw - 4 coffee stirrer sticks - Paper clip - 8” string - Rubber Bands Tools: - Scissors - Ruler - Tape - Hot Glue Gun www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 2 Base: Cut out the cardboard base and strengthen it by hot gluing on coffee stirrer sticks. The lines on the purple mat make 1” squares. Therefore, the base is 3” x 5”. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 3 Arm Parts and Rubber Band Stoppers: Use the 1” squares to figure out how big to cut the foam pieces. The narrower pieces will be used as rubber band stoppers, and the wider piece will be used as a hinge for the arm. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 4 Base Rubber Band Stoppers: Cut one of the long foam strips into quarters. Hot glue these onto the middle coffee stirrer stick (one above and one below). Also cut the other foam pieces in half, as shown. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 5 Arm Step 1: Hot glue one of the hinge pieces onto the arm stick. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 6 Arm Step 2: Hot glue the other hinge piece to the arm, being careful not to glue the ends of the two hinge pieces together. Find the middle of the base by carefully measuring and mark it. Also discard one of the narrow felt pieces (keep it for a later project)! www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 7 Arm Step 3: Hot glue the arm hinge to the base at the center line. The arm should stand straight up and be able to move back and forth. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 8 Arm Step 4: Cut the last foam piece in half and hot glue the pieces to the arm for the last rubber band stopper. It should be positioned so it aligns with one of the rubber band stoppers on the base coffee stirrer stick. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 9 Rubber Bands: Attach two rubber bands to the catapult: 1. One rubber band will act as the arm spring. 2. The other rubber band will act as the arm stop. You can twist the rubber bands or use multiple to control the arm force and angle of release. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 10 Basket Step 1: Cut your straw to the size shown and cut out a new piece of foam for the catapult basket. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 11 1 Basket Step 2: 1. Cut a slit in a corner of the foam piece. 2. Overlap the slit sides to make a pocket, and hot glue together. 3. Hot glue the foam piece so it wraps around the straw. 2 3 www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Step 12 Basket Step 3: Slip the straw over the coffee stick stirrer arm, and tape it so it’s secure. www. Build-It-Yourself. com

Catapult – Finishing Touches 1 Catapult Trigger: 1. Attach your piece of string to the paper clip. 2. Hold the catapult arm down to the middle coffee stirrer stick with the paper clip. Pulling the string will now fire the catapult. 2 www. Build-It-Yourself. com And you’re done! You can tape the base coffee stirrer sticks to a platform (like your cutting board) to keep it stable.

Catapult Engineering Catapult Testing and Optimizing Now that you’re done building, it’s time to test and improve your catapult! ? ? ? meters www. Build-It-Yourself. com For maximum distance, try and adjust the: 1. Arm length 2. Projectile weight 3. Arm force 4. Angle of release

Catapult Engineering Adjustments Catapult Adjustments After playing with the catapult, you may realize there are some things that can be improved! Here a couple ideas to get you started: 1. The catapult’s arm sometimes wiggles to the left and right. Try adding a stabilizing bar! 2. The catapult’s throwing can be a little inconsistent. Some catapults use a crossbar to stop the arm instead of the arm stop rubber band, try making one! www. Build-It-Yourself. com