COLORADO SPRINGS — What do you think your kids would say to building a hand-held catapult for fun?
And it's not just for fun, it's for science education, too!
The best part? Kids can do this right at home - and pick up all the supplies they need for free!
The Space Foundation Discovery Center is teaming up with the nonprofit Cool Science to host a virtual live video this morning at 11 a.m. on how to build a catapult. And kids can follow along with their own kits at home!
The Discovery Center still has about 20 of these kits available to hand out. If you're interested all you have to do is reserve a time to go pick them up at this link:
You can watch the live stream both on YouTube and Facebook here:
Discovery Center folks will be fielding questions and comments on the live stream.
The goal of this live DIY workshop is to spark innovation within kids, and get them interested in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) -related activities.
"We could turn them into little engineers, said Marc Straub, executive director for Cool Science, a nonprofit that has been around since 2002 and aims to educate kids in science-related fields. "When they start thinking about oh, if I can build a catapult like this maybe I can build a rocket someday," he added.
"[We think about] what can we do with the things in our house, what can we do with little money?" explained Rachel English, curator at the Discovery Center.
"And that helps break down some of the barriers between kids and science."
Cool Science says this workshop is geared towards kids in elementary and middle school, but any child who is interested can reserve their kit and join in on the virtual session.
If you can't make it today, though, not to worry!
Straub is based in Manitou Springs and told me if you can't make today's event, he will be making an appearance at Manitou's Annual Fruitcake Toss this weekend where he'll have more kits and can show kids how to build their own catapult on the spot.
