Please ask an adult to help you with using the glue gun and the craft knife

You will need:

• 13 large Ice-cream sticks

• 5 1” (inch) wooden blocks

• Missiles (arrows) to fire… Stick, rod, pencil, straw

• Elastic Band

• Tape

• Glue gun and glue stick

• Craft knife

What to do:

NOTE: Always ask an adult before using a craft knife.

1. Equally space and glue in position, three of the wooden blocks onto one of the ice cream sticks.

2. Glue another ice cream stick on top the three blocks, so it lines up with the stick on the bottom (It will look like a block sandwich!)

3. At one end of the `sandwich’ glue on a stick at a 45° angle. Repeat on the other end.  (Make sure that the angles are the same, so your bow is symmetrical).

4. Glue a wooden block onto the end of both sticks.

5. Put a blob of glue on either end of another stick, position it onto so it is lined up with the stick underneath

6. Reinforce the bow by making a brace with three sticks on each side. The brace will look like a wider A shape. Flip over your bow and repeat on the other side.

7. With the craft knife, cut the last ice cream stick in half*.  Glue one piece to either end of your bow. (The rounded edges need to face towards the front of the bow)

8. Hook the rubber band over the top ½ stick so it sits in the elbow of the join. Stretch it so it reaches over the bottom ½ stick and nestles into the elbow of this join.

9. Pinch in and tape the rubber band up. This will make pulling the rubber band back easier and the missile will rest on it. 

Woohoo!
You’ve made a bow… now let’s talk missiles (arrows)!

Experiment with the different missiles. They need to be smooth, narrow, and long enough to be supported on the bow when the rubber band is fully pulled back. We tried a pencil, straw and a solid plastic rod.

Load it up…

Load your missile of choice by resting it on top of the centre block in the bow. The end of the missile needs to be aligned with and resting on the taped-up area of the rubber band. In archery, this is called Nocking the arrow.

Pinch the rubber band lightly between your thumb and forefinger, while also supporting the arrow.  

Release…

Pull band the rubber band, aim and release!  

Next Step:

Create a target. This could be an object or maybe you could draw a target.

Note: Never aim your missile at another person or animal.  Potential energy is powerful. 

Experiment with drawing back the arrow at different speeds and distances?

Change the size or amount of rubber bands used. How does this affect the functionality?

Using the same design, assemble the bow using different materials (such as smaller ice cream sticks). What differences did you notice?