Monday, September 22, 2014

Let the Trebugames begin!

A few weeks into the beginning of each school year we do an All School Challenge. This year the challenge was called the Trebugames : may the marshmallow be ever in your flavor!  Oh yes, that's a shout out to the Hunger Games famous line "and may the odds be ever in your favor." We didn't have a fancy wigged, outrageous outfit wearing announcer to lead off the Trebugames, however. 

These challenges are meant to bring the whole school together- we mix all the grades and pair up our new kiddos with our veteran builders- and challenge them to create amazing functional pieces of work (pasta boats, balsa wood towers, etc).  It's really neat to see our returning kids be leaders and show the new students the ropes.  For the Trebugames the school was divided up into 4 teams and within those teams were smaller groups of kids (2 or 3 per group). 

This year's task was to create trebuchets and catapults out of the following materials: string, rubber bands, pencils, paperclips, washers, straws, dixie cups, pop stix, an old t-shirt, hot glue, and tape. They had 4 days to construct and build their device, then practice launching things with it.  I had the pleasure of having small pencil top erasers launched at me while I was setting out lunch.  These kids think they're so funny :-) 

Round 1: Individual launch! Each mini team uses their trebuchet or catapult to launch a mini marshmallow across the big room. Each attempt was measured to see which team could launch it the farthest.  One team had to go out outside to do it because they needed more room to launch - their marshmallow went 52 feet and was the longest of the day!


Round 2: Battle of the teams!  4 tables were set up all around the big room. They started with their tables at a far distance and launched marshmallows at each other. If a marshmallow hit a team member or the table, it was counted as a "hit".  After 30 seconds, they stopped, tallied up the hits, then moved the tables a bit closer together. This happened 2 more times. If a team was hit 10 times by a marshmallow they were eliminated.  


Round 3: Slay the giants! The kids gathered around their tables and launched marshmallows at the giants in the middle (aka the teachers).  Giants who were hit fell to the ground….


As you can see, we had a ton of fun making a big mess! There is never a dull moment at CLC.