Play Catapult

The history of the catapult for use in battle originates with the engineers commissioned by Phillip of Macedonia who built the first ballista, or two-armed catapult. However, when it comes to children, building catapults out of paper is an appropriate activity when following up lessons on medieval history which kids will surely enjoy. Nevertheless, you have to tell kids that their catapults are only for outside of class and they are not to use them to hurt each other.

Instructions

1 Lay your construction paper in front of you horizontally. Fold it in half from top to bottom, making a long horizontal crease through the middle of the paper.
2 Fold the paper in half again two more times. You now have a long, skinny rod of paper.
3 Fold the paper in half from top to bottom so that your skinny rod is half as long. Fold it in half again.
4 Unfold the last crease you just made so that your rod of paper is in an "L" shape.
5 Pull free a piece of tape from your roll of tap and wrap it around the right angle at the base of the crease. Keep rolling the tape around the piece of paper, working your way to the outer crease. Your goal is to wrap tape around half of the paper rod.
6 Cut away the excess tape. Lay the untapped portion of your catapult flat against the table with the taped portion upright and vertical.
7 Pull the taped portion towards yourself and release it to test its hurling capabilities. Adjust the flaps of the bottom portion as necessary.

Catapults, not to be confused with slingshots, were used in the battles of medieval Europe to propel large objects with lethal force towards enemy troops. Although catapults are of limited use in this day and age, it can be fun to make one with kids as a way of teaching basic physics. Once you've built your catapult, load it with ammunition before firing it.

Instructions

1 Point your catapult in a direction away from other people.
2 Pull the arm of you catapult back.
3 Secure the arm and the basket of your catapult into place. The method for doing so will depend on the design of your catapult. You may have to do this manually with your hands.
4 Place soft balls in your catapult's basket, being careful not overload it.

If you are bored at the office or want to teach your kids about physics, create your own tiny catapult. Catapults are accessible to a general audience yet can be part of a sophisticated science project. Use craft sticks and rubber bands to build a catapult to shoot marshmallows.

Instructions

1 Stack seven craft sticks on top of each other, so they are exactly stacked. This is the frame for the tiny catapult.
2 Wrap a rubber band on one end of the stack, approximately 1/2 inch from the end. Be sure it is tight. Tie another rubber band on the opposite end by wrapping it tightly.
3 Stack the remaining two craft sticks together. Tie rubber bands at only one end about 1 inch from the end. This section is the beam, or the launching part, of the catapult.
4 Insert the larger stacked craft sticks, with seven sticks, between the two craft sticks you just tied. Form a cross with the two stacks of sticks. The stack of seven sticks weighs down the other stack to form the launcher for the catapult.
5 Tie a rubber band into a cross where the two stacks of sticks meet. This makes the catapult stronger. Place the spoon facing up on the craft stick that sticks up, which is also the top stick. The bowl should be just off the craft stick. Tie two rubber bands around the handle of the spoon to the top craft stick with the bowl of the spoon at the end. Be sure the bowl is facing up.
6 Place a mini-marshmallow in the bowl of the spoon and press the spoon down gently. Release to shoot it.

When you think of catapults, you may imagine giant wooden devices used during medieval battles to hurl rocks over walls. Although it can be difficult to construct a real-sized catapult in the present day, you can build a working model of a catapult using materials found around the house, such as a shoe box. It won't allow you to hurl boulders -- but it will enable you to launch "rocks" made of wadded paper at your friends and family.

Instructions

1 Take the top off of a standard size shoe box and discard it. You will be only using the bottom portion of the shoe box.
2 Position the shoe box horizontally in front of you. Use a nail to poke a hole through the side facing you and the side facing away from you.
3 Insert an unsharpened pencil through the two holes.
4 Push the pointed end of a brass brad through the bottom of the shoe box directly underneath the pencil.
5 Place a second unsharpened pencil standing up vertically in the shoe box. Tape it onto the horizontal pencil using electrical tape so that it is positioned perpendicularly to the first pencil.
6 Tape a plastic spoon onto the vertical pencil using electrical tape so that the bowl of the spoon faces to the right.
7 Wrap a rubber band around the brass brad and around the bottom end of the vertical pencil. Pull back the vertical pencil, place an object into the bowl of the spoon, then release the pencil to launch the object.

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A catapult is a pretty simple mechanism, no more complex in principle than a teeter totter. One end is shorter than the other; a heavy weight goes on the short end; the long end does the launching. If catapult is built incorrectly it can tip over or release the projectile too early or too late. Build the catapult, then tinker with a few things once it's done to get it firing perfectly.

Instructions

1 Cut the following lengths of lumber 2-by-4-inch lumber: three pieces at 2 yards long, three pieces at 1 yard long and four pieces at 4 feet long. Make a rectangle 2 yards long by 1 yard wide. Bolt the wood together with carriage bolts to create your base. Lay another 3-yard plank down the center of the rectangle lengthwise.
2 Make isosceles triangles which stand up vertically from the each of the long sides of the base. They use the 2-yard lengths from the base as their bases and 4-foot lengths to form the other two sides. They need to be 1 yard high. Cut the ends of the 4-foot lengths so that they fit flush together and against the base. Bolt them together and place an additional 1-yard length vertically from the tip of the triangle to the base.
3 Cut right angle triangles of hardboard about 8 inches on the longest side, place them over the angles where the wood is joined and nail them in place to give support to the structure.
4 Drill a hole large enough for the metal tube through the last 1-yard length of lumber. Drill it 10 inches from one end. Drill a further hole 2 inches from the end and another 2 inches from the other end. Drill a hole through the lumber at the apex of each triangle and slide the metal tube through one, through the middle hole of the plank with three holes and out through the hole in the other triangle.
5 Move the piece of lumber with the three holes in to a central position on the bar. This is your firing arm. Drill holes through the pipe a few inches on either side of where it comes out from each bit of wood. Put carriage bolts through these to keep the bar sliding to far from the central position.
6 Put rope through the hole in the short end of the firing arm. Tie it through about 15 pounds of body building weights to it near the end of the firing arm.
7 Cut a square of fabric 10 inches on each side. Tie rope to two diagonally opposite corners. Loop one end of the rope through the hole in the long end of the firing arm. Tie the other to the metal ring. Bang a large nail halfway into the firing arm next to the hole where the rope is tied. Bend it over and point the head toward the nearest upper corner of the plank. Cut the head off the nail.
8 Place something like a tennis ball in the square of cloth. Slip the metal ring over the cut off nail. The tennis ball will be cradled in the cloth. Pull down the firing arm. Lay the tennis ball and ropes along the central plank. Make sure the aiming area is free of anything or anyone that could be hurt or damaged. Release the firing arm.

Action figure accessories and play sets can cost a quite a bit if you're into collecting. On the other hand, if you're more into actually playing with the figures and letting your imagination run wild, then there's no need to spend the extra cash when you can easily make a fun and functional accessory on your own. For those whose tastes run toward the fantasy side, making a working catapult to regular 6 inch action figure scale is relatively easy.

Instructions

1 Lay the large 7 inch wood block flat on your work surface. Measure three-fourths of an inch from the front of the block and a half an inch from the top surface and mark your place with a pencil. Repeat on the rear surface and on the other side of the block, directly opposite of your other two pencil marks. These will be the wheel placements.
2 Place one of the wheels over top of one of the pencil markings and drill using a wood screw. Power screw the wheel onto the wood surface using a wood screw, taking care not to drill completely. Leave the wheel slightly loose to allow for rolling movement. Repeat for all four wheels.
3 Again with the 7 inch block flat, measure to the exact center and make a small cut using the jigsaw, large enough to accommodate the thickness of the measuring spoon's handle. Cut through to the bottom of the block.
4 With the smaller block on its side, glue the block horizontally, keeping one side near to flush against the cut you made in step 3. This will create a stopping barrier for the catapult arm that will allow for greater firing distance.
5 Once dry, insert the tablespoon handle first into the slot you cut with the jigsaw