What is it with kids and making things fly? My kids love launching things into the air. Balls, balloons, marshmallows, pom-poms.It seems to be an activity most kids I’ve come across enjoy. Looking to fill some free time one afternoon and having found a bin of clothespins, my son and I brainstormed and came up with this fun clothespin catapult.
Boredom Buster: DIY Catapult made with a clothespin and a block of wood!
Can I just take a moment to say how much of an engineer brain my 6-year-old has? I had a vision of this homemade catapult in my head where the bottle cap would be glued to the edge of the clothespin that is open and then have that glued to the wood and you had to pull down on the edges of the cap in order to launch.
As I was explaining this to my son he looks at me all weirdly and says, “Why the heck would we do it like that?!?” He wasn’t being rude, he just truly didn’t understand why we would do it like that when we could do it so much easier. So we went with his way as you’ll see below… and I must admit, his way is much better! Best of all? This is super easy and provides lots of laughs and fun for kids!
DIY Clothespin Catapults

Build a Catapult

SUPPLIES:

Clothespin
Block of wood
Milk or juice cap
Gorilla Glue or similar
Markers or Paint

Clothespin Catapult Instructions:

Glue your clothespin onto the center of a small block of wood with the sides and edges sanded down.
Glue the milk cap to the top of the clothespin near the edge of the “closed” side of the clothespin.
Hand the kids some markers or paint and let them decorate their catapults – Can be done before or after adding the clothespin to the block.
Once dry, the fun begins! Grab small objects that can be launched without causing harm to people, walls, floors, and the like. We used mini-corks, but mini marshmallows and pom-poms would work too.
Put the object into the milk cap, slap your hand down onto the end of the clothespin, and launch away!
You can set up a bucket or a paper target to make a game of it or just have free play. We liked to see who could get launch the cork the farthest. Not only fun for kids either! Mamas can have fun launching things too!
I stopped by my local news station and shared this as part of a Boredom Buster Craft Series. Check that out below:

WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-