Today I will be making a mini cardboard trebuchet. It is very simple but very awesome.

Supplies

For this trebuchet, you will need some very simple materials.

sheet of cardboard
two skinny popsicle sticks
toothpick
counterweight( I used wooden cube)
pencil
Ruler
exacto knife
hot glue

Step 1: Drawing the Pieces

On the sheet of cardboard draw these following shapes using the pencil and ruler.

4 1cm by 4cm rectangle
1 4cm by 4cm square
1 9cm by 6cm rectangle
4 2cm by 5 cm rectangles(you will only need 3 of them but it is always good to have extras)

Step 2: Cutting the Pieces

Now that the pieces have been drawn out it is now time to cut them. Using an Exacto knife cut out the pieces. (If you are younger, have an adult supervise you while you do it or have them do it).

Step 3: Putting the Pieces Together

When gluing the stuff together there will be two parts, the top, and the bottom.

TOP: Glue the 4 small rectangles to the edge of the square. On the bottom of that box glue, the popsicle sticks to about the middle of the box.

Bottom: In the middle on the big rectangle glue two of the medium rectangles so half of it is hanging off. Next, slide a toothpick through the holes in the cardboard.

Now It is time to put those two pieces together. To do that glue the top part onto the toothpick. Have the side with the box hanging out farther than the side that will have the counterweight. To know how much length to have on the shorter side make it about the length of the counterweight. (look at the final piece to see)

Step 4: Final Touches

In this step, we will add the counterweight and something that stops the trebuchet from overextending. First, add the counterweight and test it out. while trying it out you may notice that after the weight comes down it goes extra far. To stop this add the last medium rectangles to the bottom as shown in the photo. This will make it much easier to bring it back to the starting position.

And now It is done and you can toss mini things in your mini trebuchet. if you would like you could also decorate your trebuchet to make it even better. I hope you liked this build.