Ask Ollie
Ollie's Chain Reaction Contraption
Here's one to try together!
One little push, and a whole parade of rolling, tumbling, clanging fun follows!
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- marbles and other small parts are a choking risk for little siblings
- ball or objects falling off a table edge could land on feet or be tripped over
What you need
- Toy cars, 1
- Cardboard box, 1 flat piece for a ramp
- Clear cups, 2 or 3
- Painter's tape, 1 roll
- Paper, 1 sheet for the sketch
- Crayons or markers, a few
- Book, 6 to 8
- Paper tubes, 2 or 3
- Ball, 1
- Marble, 1
- String, 1 ball
- Pillows and cushions, 1 cushion, rug or towel for a soft landing
- Bell or pot, 1 (optional)
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Clear a big floor space and keep little siblings and pets away from marbles and small parts. Keep falling things away from feet.
- Sketch your contraption on paper with arrows showing where things will move.
- Stand books in a row like dominoes, then tip the first one.
- Make a ramp and roll a toy car down it.
- Aim a marble through a paper tube and see where it comes out.
- Roll a ball off the table edge into a cup or onto a soft landing.
- Tie string to a cup and pull it to topple something.
- Test each link, then join them together, making five links or more.
- Add a fun ending, then run the whole thing with one push and count your tries.
- Show your family your contraption! Can you make it longer or sillier next time? Ask: Which link was the trickiest to fix, and what would you add to make it even better?
Play it again
- Noisy finish: end with a bell, a pot clang, or a tower of cups tumbling.
- Team relay: each person builds one link, then you join them all together.
- Fewer tries: see if you can get a full run in just three tries.
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