Welcome to Wednesday! Today features an exciting construction project from Jonathan, a hilarious (and kind of trendy) art project from Tyler, and a classic home active from Maisa!
Longest Bridge Challenge
Built by Jonathan
Here’s a simple and fun building challenge that uses regular household items. It can be done as a friendly competition with two teams or more (if there are enough people), or as a cooperative activity without teams.
Materials Needed (per team):
10 pieces of paper
1 marble or other similar object
6 feet of masking tape
1 pair of scissors
1 chair
1 table
Using only the materials provided, the aim of this activity is to see how long of a bridge kids can build between the edge of a table and a lower point on a chair. Builders can do anything with the paper and tape, as long as they end up with a free-standing structure (holding any part of it up is against the rules). The bridge must also be designed so a marble can be rolled all the way across it without the marble falling off, getting stuck (this is why it’s important for the table and chair to be at different heights), or the bridge breaking.
When running this activity I encourage kids to first work together to come up with a basic design - one that is as sturdy as possible but doesn’t use too much paper. Saving paper is important when the goal is to eventually make the longest bridge possible! Kids have to figure out how to find the best possible balance between their bridge’s length and how strong it is. When they are ready, I help kids tape each end of their bridge to the chosen table and chair.
We then conduct the marble test (allowing for adjustments between tests if needed) and if/when their bridge passes the test, I measure the length of the gap between the table and chair. The team with the longest bridge wins the challenge!
Take some pictures and send us what you came up with!
Toilet Totems
From Tyler
Grade Level: K-5
Materials:
Paper towel rolls (just the cardboard)
Toilet Paper rolls (just the cardboard)
Whiteboard markers
Shirts
Hats
Location: Bathroom
Further instructions or accommodations:
Here’s an opportunity to have a little fun with your loo. You can gather recycled materials to make some funny faces or monsters out of your toilet! Toilet paper rolls as eyes? A cut out pieces of cardboard as a tongue? Dry- erase marker eyelashes? All of these are possibilities (with parents permission of course). Take pictures of your creations to share when we return!
Keep it in the Air!
With Maisa
Introduction: This is a fun active game my cousins and I came up with on a quiet afternoon. It’s great because you can play using whatever materials are available to you and it can be played with any number of players.
Grade level: K-5
Materials: Crumpled up paper for the “ball” and a small book for the “racket”, though the racket can be substituted by anything that would work well, such as: a piece of cardboard, a plastic water bottle, or even a shoe.
Instructions: This is a group game where everyone works together to keep the ball in the air. Players stand facing each other and hit the ball with their ‘racket’ when it comes toward them. Players keep count of how many hits the ball stays in the air for. Once the ball hits the ground, the number restarts. Aim for the ball to be in the air for 5, or 10 hits depending on the players’ age level.
Notes: Usually played with 2 or more players, but can be played alone. Players do not have to pass the ball to any other specific player. I would recommend playing outside on a nice day since players usually have to run a bit to catch up to the ball. Feel free to make adjustments to the game so that it works better for you, and have fun!
Modifications: What other rules could you add to this game? There is a lot of room to create new fun rules, extra challenges, or specifics to the room or outdoor space you play in to explore with.
Communication is everything! "I got it!"
Check back tomorrow for a new set of activities from the MRASP Team here on the LFHBlog!
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