Earthquake Towers

Do you have spaghetti and marshmallows lying around in your kitchen? With these simple supplies you can build out a tower resilient to shaking and earthquakes!

Do you have spaghetti and marshmallows lying around in your kitchen? With these simple supplies you can build out a tower resilient to shaking and earthquakes! This activity is great for all ages, lots of fun, and easy to clean (as long as you don’t mind having a tasty snack)!

Supplies:

  • Spaghetti or Tooth Picks
  • Marshmallows or Jelly Beans

Directions:

Step 1: Connect pieces of spaghetti by sticking them into marshmallows.

Step 2: Build out a tower one shape at a time.

Step 3: Try out different shapes (triangles, cubes, crosses). See how high you can build!

Step 4: Test out resilience of structures by shaking tables.

Learning Benefits

Makers can make sturdy structures and discover which shapes work best through fun hands-on learning. With Earthquake Towers kids can physically feel and see the basics of architecture and design, trying out different shapes and builds.

Earthquake Towers are also great for all ages since it allows kids to build what they want. They can build their towers as large and complex as they like!

Kids can work with friends to learn and grow teamwork skills!

Maker Fun Fact!

Triangles are a very important shape in structural design. They are often regarded as the strongest shape because of how they distribute force. Learn more!