Here’s a fun contraption to build out of LEGO® bricks – a rubber band powered LEGO® car! Aidan (11) and I have two different versions to show you, and hopefully these will inspire the builders at your house to create their own! This would also be a great project for a LEGO® club, scout group, or LEGO® birthday party!
Rubber band powered car #1:
The picture below shows the pieces needed to build this car.
This rubber band car will travel pretty far because of its design – you wind it up, and then the rubber band comes completely loose as it rolls forward, allowing it to travel as long as it has momentum.
The special parts came from the LEGO®/Klutz book and set Crazy Action Contraptions. (Amazon Affiliate link) We also used wheels from a basic set and a rubber band. If you don’t have these pieces, hopefully this car design will give you some inspiration as to how the design goes so that you can create a car with what you have. We do recommend the Crazy Action Contraptions book for kids who like to build machines. It comes with some great parts and a book with several projects to build.
Step 1: Attach the two short axle pieces to the gray piece as shown. Add connector rods as shown.
Step 2: Attach the two 10-dot pieces and two wheels to the axle. These will be the back wheels.
Step 3: Add the longer axle and two more wheels to the front of the car. The tan colored connector rods (one in the back axle and one on the top of the car) will hold the rubber band.
Step 4: Build up the back of the car to make it look like the back.
Step 5: Load the rubber band. Wrap it around the front post and the back post, and turn the wheels to tighten.
Let go, and let it roll!
Rubber Band Car #2
This car does not travel as far because of the design. It stops itself when it has unwound to the full length of the rubber band. The benefits are that it does funny tricks and that the LEGO® bricks in this car are easier to find. It would also be fun to have kids build this version and experiment with changing the length of the rubber band to see the effect on the car.
Step 1: Find two 10 x 1 bricks with holes in the sides.
Step 2: Cover those two bricks with flat bricks. Our flat bricks had holes in them, but that is not necessary. Add a 4 x 1 brick on the front. Again, ours has holes but it’s not necessary.
Step 3: Add more bricks to the top as shown.
Step 4: Connect the two rubber bands “luggage tag style.”
Step 5: Slide the rear axle through the last hole on each of the 10 x 1 bricks. Put on the wheels. Attach the rubber band to the rear axle as shown.
Step 6: Stretch the rubber band around the front of the car and around the top bricks as shown. Do this before you put on the front wheels as the rubber band needs to run under the front axle.
To wind up the car, turn the rear axle. Or, you can actually pull this car back and let it go!
We would love to see pictures of your kids’ (girls too!) rubber band powered LEGO® car designs! Feel free to share photos on the Frugal Fun for Boys Facebook page.
LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO® group of companies which does not sponsor. authorize, or endorse this site.
I love this but am just really concerned that you are only aiming your website at boys! We are constantly being told that there are not enough females in engineering whilst the belief that engineering is only for boys can begin from a very young age. You have an opportunity to both counteract this damaging and false belief, whilst at the same time effectively doubling your website views. To me, as a Mum of both boys and girls, it’s a no brainer! FrugalFun4Kids would be so much better!
Speaking from a mom of three boys, looking for support and advice from other moms of boys, I see nothing wrong with her site or it being geared towards boys. In fact, I love her site because it IS focused on boys. Yes, girls need to be exposed to the same educational and play activities, but let’s face it…boys and girls are wired differently. Boys learn and interact with their environment differently than girls. To have a site that concentrates solely on raising boys…I personally LOVE. If you feel it is important enough to design a site that focuses on boy and girl activities, go for it! Join the other million websites out there that do just that. If you are so bothered by her site being focused on boys, a site created by her life and experiences, then move along. No one is making you read her stuff. Keep it up, Sarah. You are a wonderful encouragement and support for us boy moms.
DITTO!
Ooops! (Except I’m a dad: 2 girls and 1 boy!)
I agree 100%. Well said.
Amen! I have 3 boys and 2 girls. This site is not offensive at all. Love the content, we will be popping in often!
what does it matter if her blog is geared towards only boys? afterall it is her blog!! just the same as a baking blog is geared toward baking, or a homesteading blog is geared towards homesteading!! if u want one for girls and boys, then look somewhere else, or make your own!!
I am a girl, and like to build Legos. I agree, it is offensive to girls, implying that only boys like Legos.
I’m a dude and I hate most stereotypes including girls cant be but boys cans like girls can’t engineer only boys but I whent here to look how to make a pull back and I did it! i kind of hogpoged it though because I didn’t have all parts needed but I did it:)
Please take a moment to check out the byline of the title… “Playing, learning, and creating at the speed of my boys.” She has boys. This website chronicles her adventures playing and teaching her boys. She is kind enough to share her joys, discoveries, and trials with us. Insert “Frugal Fun for MY Boys” to the title and do you still find it “really concern[ing]”? Go ahead and do that if it will help you regain your zen and enjoy the activity with your girls. And just like this blog, my advice is free… so take it or leave it. (Oh, and I also fully support her use of the Oxford comma as well.)
I love the project. Great idea! I agree with a previous comment – why not frugalfun4kids? Help encourage more girls in STEM? 🙂
Her blog is titled this way because she is a mom to 4 boys. (I believe, I may have the number wrong). I have a boy and a girl and don’t really care what the title is. She has great ideas and I use them for both kids!
You are Correct on the amount of boys.
if you are looking for things for girls, you are looking at the wrong site. complaining about there not being any girl stuff on here is like ordering beef at a vegetarian restaurant and being shocked they do not have meat!
the first comment is idiotic.
This is awesome! My son loves cars AND legos and we homeschool so this will be great! It’s harder to find things for boys than for girls because, frankly, my son doesn’t like to color, crafts give him hives, and unless it has wheels, he isn’t interested! This will be a great way to teach several basic physics lessons in a way he totally doesn’t realize isn’t play! Thankyou!
I have 2 boys and a very rambunctious girl. When I see sites named like this one, I see it as just a name and don’t judge content by just the name. I believe she comes from a place where she is speaking of her experiences of having boys. In the same way, I don’t consider “girl” sites only for my daughter. My boys dress up to the nines in princess outfits and my daughter can hike as far in her tutu as her father. I enjoy this site for its awesome project ideas for my kids. It’s my job not to put them in a box stamped with a label.
I agree with both Carrie and Emma. I have a boy and 2 girls but I love this site. This blog is about Sarah’s voice and her life. If you don’t like her life Tamar you don’t have to read about it just find a new blog to like. Ah, the joy of the internet something for everyone right?
P.S. Love your blog Sarah! I’ve done some of your activities with my two oldest and they really liked them!
Will pin this! I am sure we have all the parts, just need finding the rubber bands in a drawer. And the name of your site is fine. There are plenty of things just for girls. Lol. If you like a project and you have girls, then go for it. But it’s nice to have someone thinking of boys and their skill set and imagination.
Back to Legos…. Instead of small minded people criticizing your every post. I think this of fantastic !!! Took us awhile to find which one worked but the first one worked the best.
Awesome! I’m glad it worked!
Unfortunately girls do guys things sometimes, but rarely do guys do girl things. And you all know what I mean. It is nice to not have to wade through all the my little pony and pink and purple to find something our son will enjoy. Boys rock (but Moms rule).
Wonderful! My little guys are excited about making these ‘powered’ cars! So glad I found your site.
– Mom of boys and girls
When did we become a society where we have to please everyone? If your offended don’t look at the site. Things can only offend you if you let them…..move on. Love this Lego build and love this site.
I agree I’m no parent I’m only 13 but I have heard some fucked up shit on the news and at school which made me doubt my school and how it was teaching me and making me stupider here is my story on how i learned more impotant stuff without the so called “best school in iowa” I used to live in North Carolina where I went to school for 4 years thinking “this is what it must be like anywhere” (i count kindergarten) sadly Iowa is a common core state which NC isn’t before I was able to attend school I had to take a iq test and I scored high so at the school they knew I was smart and that I had ADHD so I was in a class of smart kids for my time there I was learning stuff a grade or two above my grade it went like this for 4 great years I had a crush/true girlfriend if I had the balls to ask her out met my true best friend and had a good time but we moved to iowa and I attend dike new hartford schools which is CC control and my file for my stuff like my ADHD didn’t get transferred over so I didn’t get put in tag (talented and gifted) and I had to learn stuff i already knew I was placed in forth grade because we thought my file transfered I should be in high school or at the least 8th grade by now but I’m in 7th instead because of this and I hate common core and my principle for not putting me in 5th or 6th grade stuff like this is great and stuff but people telling me to be politically correct and do as told at school your blog is basically pointing the middle finger at the government and common core indirectly and is a great motivation to fight the power thank you. P.s every one that complains about you blog being about boys is a fucking moron and doesn’t relies that you shouldn’t judge a blog by its title
As a Grandmother of 2 girls (ages 2& 4) and 1 boy (age 5), I can definitely tell you it is much HARDER to find thing for boys than girls. So I think this site is wonderful! I hope to be able to check back often for new ideas. Keep up the great work!
Well if this was about making playdough and it was written by a mom of girls and I found it on a Google search, I’m sure my first thought would be to say “HEY! I have boys, why should playdough be only for girls?” Give me a break. She has boys. Truth be told, most girls don’t play with Legos. She has boys. I have a family full of nieces and I have my two sons. She has boys. Some girls certainly do love Legos and baseball ( I was one of those girls), and some boys love play kitchens (like mine) as much as their legos and 100s of cars. Why did our play kitchen come with a potted flower? I should write Fisher Price and tell them they should have included a potted Transformer! How offensive. And that baby doll? So glad my son named it Joey even though it had a pink paci. I should write that company too. My boys loved their baby! The reasonable moms will thank her for sharing what she has done for her FOUR BOYS with the rest of the world. The rest of you from now , just Google things and put “for girls” on the end of your search so you don’t inadvertently find any great ideas that originated with a boy. So you won’t be sad and frustrated with the unfairness of it all.
Wow! just pinned some of your lego activities. My boys are excited to get started!
WOW!! I’m so very glad that I discovered your site! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas. I’m looking forward sharing your site with my LEGO Club. Kids in grades 1-5 join me twice monthly for an hour and it’s coming up with ideas that will appeal can be challenging. My girls and boys (ignore any negative comments above) just LOVE building. Your rubber band cars are something that my older students will have the privilege of trying out first!
(Cross-posted from the facebook page because these types of comments are useful on blog posts.)
Hi! I discovered your site while searching for some fun LEGO projects to do with a homeschool LEGO class I’m helping lead. I love all the ideas! This week I was planning on doing the rubberband powered cars (posted back in July 2014) but I’m running into a problem and the main blog post doesn’t have any discussion about this issue in the comments. I was hoping some of the folks around here could help me out…
The problem I have is that the rubberband not only starts the car, but stops it as it winds up the opposite direction. The car seems to only go a few inches before stopping. Did anyone find a way to solve this problem in a simple way?
I have used many of your exciting activities for my son and love what you post. I have a boy and girl and think designing a site based around your sons is refreshing and fun. I am a teacher and have taken grad courses, including the disection of well-known books about how boys and girls learn differently. Thanks for acknowledging this with great content and we can’t wait to see what you post next!
LOVE your site! So great to find a blog for my four BOYS!
Can’t wait to try this with my kids!
Now about the site name… I might visited if the site if it was frugalfun4kids. There are a million websites like that. Your current name told me this was something my son might also be interested in, not just arts and crafts. It did not make me feel like my daughter was excluded.
Thank you so much for your comment! I have never meant to make girls feel excluded!
legos are for everyone ages 1 – 99
I’m 38 years old and have been a Lego mainiac since I was 8 years old. Legos were the foundation for welding, mechanics, and carpentry. Growing up I had to tell myself that I don’t care what other people think, this is what makes ME happy. If your children are girls and love Legos then teach them it is ok no matter what anyone else says. I am very excited about building rubber band powered cars with my niece and her mom is an engineer! Building is way life…
As a teacher with boys and girls in class…exposure is the main issue. not whether this awesome blog is catering to one or the other gender. I’ll be sure to add this into our activities this month since most of our boys and girls love legos and would love the opportunity to try making a moving car out of them.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for the great ideas. I am going to try some with children in summer camp. Keep up your good work with your boys! There is no reason that girls can’t use these ideas, too, if they want to. Continue pouring your thoughts, time and creativity into your family and we will take from it what we can.