How to Create an Origami Lever Catapult
Elastic Tension Ballistic Launcher with Multi-Zone Target Cups
What You Need Before Starting
Folding Instructions (5 Steps)
Follow each step in order. Press your folds firmly against the table using your thumbnail or a ruler for maximum performance.
Roll Dense Paper Truss Tubes
Roll 4 sheets of paper tightly around a pencil to create ultra-rigid cylindrical paper tubes, securing each tube with tape.
Form Triangular Catapult Base Frame
Join 3 paper tubes into a stable triangular base frame, wrapping rubber bands or tape firmly around each of the three corner joints.
Attach Upright Fulcrum Tower
Attach an upright vertical crossbar bridge over the base to create the fulcrum pivot point for the throwing arm.
Mount the Launching Lever Arm & Cup
Attach the 4th tube as the launching arm. Secure a plastic bottle cap or folded paper cup to the top tip with tape to hold ammo pellets.
Load Ammo, Pull Back, and Fire!
Place a soft crumpled paper ball into the basket cup, pull the lever arm back with your finger, aim at the scoring cups, and release!
Hooke’s Law, Projectile Trajectory & Energy Transformation
When pulling the catapult launching arm downward, work is done stretching the rubber band, storing Elastic Potential Energy. When released, that stored energy accelerates the projectile forward along a parabolic ballistic curve governed by launch angle and initial velocity.
A 45-degree launch angle achieves maximum horizontal flight distance in Newtonian projectile mechanics.
Skills Your Child Develops with This Craft
Parabolic Ballistic Trajectory Estimation
Calibrating pullback distance and angle to hit distant precision targets.
Structural Rigidity Engineering
Building triangular trusses that absorb high elastic launch shock without collapsing.
Mathematical Score Addition
Summing up points (10 + 25 + 50) across rounds during family target competitions.
Fun Family Mini-Games to Play
The 100-Point Target Challenge
Set up 3 target cups at 3, 6, and 9 feet away. Launch 5 shots to see who can reach 100 points first.
Siege Castle Knock-Down Contest
Stack 6 paper cups into a pyramid castle. Launch ammo to see who can topple the castle in the fewest shots!
Parent Note:
Building a catapult turns living rooms into exciting STEM physics labs where children intuitively learn about force, trajectory angles, and energy conversion.
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