These craft stick catapults or popsicle stick catapults are very easy to make and provide hours of fun and are a brilliant engineering and design project. We made our popsicle stick catapults space-themed and turned table tennis balls into planets. There are so many different catapult designs and themes to choose from; you’ll be busy for weeks! Catapults are also a brilliant way to learn about energy, gravity and Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Popsicle stick catapults are also great for a maths based activity if children record how far different sizes/weights of balls travel. We’ve found that small pom poms fly very well as they are light.

Popsicle or lolly stick catapults are very easy to make. Each one takes only a couple of minutes to build once you get the hang of it. They’re a great kids’ activity for a rainy day.

Popsicle Stick Catapults

What you need for a Popsicle Stick Catapult

Wide popsicle sticks/ lolly sticks

Elastic bands

Table tennis balls

Other items to test

Double sided tape

Milk bottle top

Tape measure – optional

How to make a Popsicle stick catapult

Start with about seven popsicle sticks and place them on top of each other. Twist an elastic band around each end to hold them in place.

Place another stick above and one below the stack of 7 so they make a cross shape. There should be more lolly sticks on the end you want to use for the milk top.

Tie an elastic band around the middle of the cross.

Twist another elastic band around the bottom of two sticks as you can see in the photo.

Attach a milk bottle top using double sided tape or strong glue.

Experiment with your table tennis balls.

Popsicle Stick Catapult Investigation Ideas

Remember to only change one variable at a time

Change the design

Try adding extra or fewer sticks to the central part.

Make the throwing arm shorter.

Change the item being catapulted

Investigate to find out if a heavier ball travels further.

Make it a challenge!

Set a challenge to find out how far you can make a ball travel!

Add some maths

Create a target with different numbers in different areas and use the catapult to fire balls at the target. See who can score the most with a set number of balls.

How Does a Popsicle Stick Catapult Work?

Newton’s First Law states that an object stays at rest until a force is applied to the object.

When you pull down on the catapult arm, elastic potential energy is stored, when you release the catapult arm the potential energy changes to kinetic energy ( energy of motion ) which is transferred to the object which then flies through the air.

Catapults and conservation of energy

A lolly stick catapult demonstrates energy being converted from one type to another ( potential to kinetic ) and transferred from one object to another ( catapult arm to the ball ).

If you push the catapult arm down further you are storing more elastic potential energy which means more kinetic energy is transferred to the ball when you release it. The further you push the catapult arm down ( which takes more force from you ) the further the ball will travel.

If you want to learn more about Newton’s Laws of Motion, try our film canister rocket.

More Catapult Design Ideas

Can you build a giant catapult? We used this one to launch tennis balls over a net.

We love this easy LEGO Catapult. It took a bit of engineering and lots of tweaking along the way, but it ended up working very well!

Try an easy shoe box catapult. Again this is a brilliant easy engineering project for kids with lots of possible variations on the design and theme.

Try some catapult painting like Fun-a-Day.

Frugal Fun for Boys has another catapult design.

How about a snowman popsicle stick catapult? Or a pokemon catapult?

Crazy Popsicle Stick Catapults

Last Updated on January 16, 2023 by Emma VanstoneThe post How to Make a Popsicle Stick Catapult appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids.