Just for fun!

1. Paper Structures

There are many different types of construction challenges requiring little more than a newspaper and a roll of tape or ball of string…

• What is the tallest tower you can build from 6 sheets of newspaper? Can your tower support the weight of a small beanie toy?

• Can you make a bridge to span a distance of 30 centimetres that will support 8 toy cars?

• Can you build a table from newspaper that will support the weight of 5 books?

• Can you build a structure large enough to sit inside?

Challenge comes by providing children with a distance to span (bridge), height or width to attain (tower/skyscraper), or a weight element (strength of structure). There are lots of different ways that children can manipulate the paper to achieve different results, for example bending, rolling, tearing, scrunching or concertina folding.

Challenge variations;

• Construct with other materials that would typically be considered weak or unsuitable as construction materials, such as drinking straws, playing cards or pieces of dried spaghetti.