Manipulating Catapults

Mini catapults made of clothespins and a wood block are one of our favourite inventions! We introduced them early last year, so our current SKs are quite skilled at manipulating them. We put them out at the science and math area last week in hopes they would pique our JK's interests as well.

It was really interesting to watch the children experiment with how to best manipulate the catapults. In the following video you can see the teamwork involved as the children work together to stabilize the catapult.

Once the skill of how to use them is mastered, many children work on their control and technique. Aiming the chips into bowls was a favourite activity and great for strengthening fine motor control and hand-eye coordination. 

Our goal is to encourage the children to assign points for getting chips in the bowls. This will add a math element to an already very exciting activity!