Popsicle Stick Puzzle

 

This is an easy craft to do using just 10 popsicle sticks, tape, and markers/crayons/colored pencils.

How to make it:
1. Line up 10 craft popsicle sticks side by side so they're all even with each other.
2. Carefully add a strip of tape down each side so that they're secure and won't fall apart.
3. Turn them over and draw a picture or design, making sure that no popsicle sticks are left blank.
4. Remove the tape and mix them up.
5. Have fun piecing your puzzle back together!

Clothespin Airplane

This is a pretty simple craft that only requires a clothespin and 2 craft popsicle sticks.  You glue down one popsicle stick to the "teeth" or closed side of the clothespin.  You cut off a small amount of each edge of the other popsicle stick and glue it down to the open side of the clothespin.  Regular glue works fine, but I like to use a hot glue gun.  You can also cut out a triangle from craft foam and add it to the backside of the plane, but this is optional.  Decorate with markers and you're done :)

Popsicle Stick Catapult

This craft is super fun to play with, but requires a bit of prep work.

What you'll need is 11 craft popsicle sticks, 11 rubber bands, a hot glue gun/crazy glue, and something to use as a launcher (I created my own by cutting pieces of craft foam and gluing them together with a hot glue gun.

How to make this:
1. Take 7 craft popsicle sticks and stack them together. Bind them with 2 rubber bands--1 on each edge.
2. Take 2 craft popsicle sticks and place one on top of the other so that they overlap a couple of inches.  Bind them together with 3 rubber bands side by side. (If you're using larger rubber bands, you may not need to use 3)
3. Repeat step 2 with the last couple of craft sticks.
4. Take the two sets of sticks from steps 1 & 2, and place one set on the bottom of the sticks from Step 1, and one set on the top so that they're kind of centered.  Bind them together with two rubber bands so that they form an "X" shape.
5. Bind together one edge of the catapult with a rubber band.
6. Find or create a launcher.  You can use foam pieces like I did, or you can you other household materials like a bottle cap.  Glue this to one side of the catapult.
7. Decorate