We had extra pool noodle ends left over from our pool noodle light sabers, so I thought the boys would have fun making marble runs with them.  I’ve seen several of these floating around Pinterest, but we didn’t use one particular pattern for ours.

I started by cutting the pool noodles in half length wise with a large serrated kitchen knife.

I showed Aidan how to make a corner by cutting a triangle shaped piece and adding it between two other pieces.  We used duct tape (what else?) to fasten the joints together.

Aidan had so much fun setting up a marble run around the turn in our stairs!  He used wooden blocks to prop up his creation. It took some experimentation to get the angles just right so that the marble would not have too much momentum and fly off the track.  Good activity for thinking and problem solving!

Silly dog always has to be in the middle of everything!

Aidan had the track set up where the marble would land in that orange thing (a puppet mouth – Chick-fil-A toy from today’s free meal if you dress like a cow!).  It landed in there repeatedly – I was amazed at Aidan’s engineering skills!

The duct tape peeled right off, so we saved the pieces and can build a different layout next time.

Pool noodles are pretty amazing!

3 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. Christina Jul 14, 2013

    I adore this blog. I love how the ideas are educationally centered and yet highly affordable/doable for families like mine who enjoy practical resources.

    Reply
  2. John Paull Feb 25, 2015

    Just discovered your site - and what I saw kept my 73 brain in full action!! LOVED the marble runs!!
    THANK YOU!!

    Reply
  3. David Randolph Oct 15, 2018

    Too bad you didn't have even more noodles - you could've bent them into circles and made some epic loopty loops and stuff! Good to see your boy was attempting to launch the marble into towers of blocks though, because that's what every boy should do.

    Reply

Post a Comment