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.
