Paper Catapult

A base with posts, a lever on an axle, and a red spoon. Put a paper ball in the spoon and hit the short end of the lever with your finger — the ball flies off in an arc.

• Medium
• 15 steps
• 4 pieces
• 1 Letter sheet

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 9498

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Ruler — 8–12 in
• Empty pen — to score the folds
• Paper scraps — for the ammo balls
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Base: outline. The box pattern: a narrow bottom, tall posts with circles on the sides, and low walls with tabs at the top and bottom. Trace the circles on the posts with a solid line too — the axle will go through them.
2. Base: folds. All the lines around the bottom and at the tabs are dashed: mountain folds, so the design stays on the outside.
3. Base: design. Copy the boards and nails and the rings around the circles.
4. Lever, spoon and axle: outlines. The lever strip with a ruler, with its two circles; the cross-shaped spoon with tabs; and the rectangle for the axle.
5. Lever and spoon: folds. The lever has four long dashed lines: it folds into a bar. The spoon has dash-dot lines: its rims rise up with the design inside.
6. Lever and spoon: design. The boards and nails on the lever, and the rings around the circles, where the axle will go. The spoon will be red all over.

Color

7. Color: base. Trace the boards, nails and rings in brown. You don’t need to fill in the boards — the paper will look like light wood.
8. Color: lever and spoon. Color the board lines and rings brown and the spoon red all over, tabs included. Don’t color the axle.

Cut

9. Cut out: base. Cut out the base along the solid line. Don’t cut out the circles on the posts: put an eraser under the piece, poke the middle of each circle with a sharp pencil and twist it until the hole reaches the line.
10. Cut out: lever, spoon and axle — 3 pcs. Cut out the lever, the spoon and the axle along the solid lines. Treat the two circles on the lever like the ones on the posts: put an eraser under the piece, poke the middle of each circle with a sharp pencil and twist it until the hole reaches the line.

Fold

11. Base. Score the dashed lines with an empty pen. Fold up the posts and walls with the design facing out, tuck the wall tabs inside and glue them to the posts.
12. Lever and spoon. Fold the lever along the dashed lines into a bar with the design facing out, and glue the narrow tab inside. Fold up the rims of the spoon, glue the tabs, and attach the spoon to the long end of the lever.

Assemble

13. Axle on a pencil. Lay a pencil along the long edge of the axle rectangle and roll the paper tightly around the pencil, about one and a half turns. Glue the edge, then slide the tube off.
14. Lever on the axle. Set the lever between the posts with the spoon at the back, and line up the holes in the lever with the holes in the posts. Slide the axle through: post — lever — post. The lever must swing freely.

Shot

15. Load and fire. Crumple a ball the size of a cherry from the scraps and put it in the spoon. Sharply hit with your finger the short end of the lever, from top to bottom: the lever drops onto the front wall and the ball flies off in an arc.

Done. Your catapult is done. Crumple scraps into cherry-sized balls and set up a shooting range: put an empty cup half a meter away and try to hit it.

Make it with your phone camera

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