Winter STEAM Challenge: Marshmallow Catapult

Winter STEAM Challenge: Marshmallow Catapult

Get your family, friends or Destination Imagination team together for the ultimate Instant Challenge! For this four-part STEAM challenge, you will use your creativity, teamwork and problem-solving skills to build a marshmallow catapult and knock down a wall of stacked “snowmen.” You will have 25 minutes to complete all four parts of this activity.

 

Challenge: Use your creativity, teamwork and problem-solving skills to build a catapult and knock down a wall of stacked “snowmen.”

Time: You will have 25 minutes to complete ALL 4 PARTS of this Challenge. Once your team completes a Part of the Challenge, you may immediately move on to the next Part of the Challenge. You must complete Parts 1-4 in order.

Part One: Build a catapult using only craft sticks, rubber bands, a plastic spoon and tape.

Part Two: Decorate 10 paper or plastic cups to look like snowmen. You will have construction paper, glue sticks and a pair of scissors to help you create your snowmen designs.

Part Three: Using only a rubber band and string, create a device to help your team members stack your 10 snowmen into a pyramid shape. (See diagram below.)

Part Four: Use your catapult to launch marshmallows and knock down all 10 snowmen. Note for Team Manager/Adult Leader: To make Part 4 more challenging, give each team only 5 marshmallows for launching.

Materials:

  • 8 Craft Sticks
  • 6 Rubber Bands
  • 1 Plastic Spoon
  • Tape
  • 8 Pieces of String (approx. 6 inches for each)
  • 10 Paper Cups
  • 4 Sheets of Paper
  • Markers
  • 1 Glue Stick
  • 10 Marshmallows
  • Scissors

 

Scoring: You will receive:

  • 4 points (40 points maximum) for each snowman you knock over.
  • 10 points if you knock over all 10 snowmen using only 3 marshmallows.
  • Up to 20 points for the creativity of your team-created catapult.
  • Up to 20 points for the creativity of your snowmen.
  • Up to 20 points for how well your team works together.

 

Click here to download and print a copy of this Instant Challenge.