Marble Track Instant Challenge ~ Logic for Kids

The instant challenges that we’ve been working on with our small co-op have been so much fun and the kids were excited to have a few of the adults join in on the challenges as well! Because I’m the one pulling together the challenges, not thinking it through was hard, but I did manage it!

Instant Challenge ~ Marble Race

The task for the marble race challenge was to create a track for a marble and have the marble ‘land’ in a taped square ~ and stay there. This time we re-divided the 11 kids to balance out the boys/girls a little better and the two adults worked together in a group as well for a total of four groups.

Challenge: Create a marble track using the given materials and have the marble land in an 8” square and remain there. Additional points will be awarded for the distance the marbles traveled to get to the taped square.

Supplies: 1 piece of cardstock, 3 straws, 1 piece of string, 3 sheets of paper, 5 mailing labels, 4 paper clips, 3 rubber bands, and 2 pencils.

We gave each of the teams one minute as a quick ‘brainstorm’ session. During this time they were allowed to sketch out any plans and talk through ideas they had for building the track.

Each team then had five minutes to create their tracks and test the stability of their tracks using a marble before we went around the room and put them to the real test. Once the time was up, we visited each team to see their track and run the marble down the track. Once scoring was complete, we gathered together as a group and talked about what we could have done differently to make the run more stable, longer, or better overall.

Here’s a look at the finished products from each team. Designs ranged from very simple to complex and it was SO much fun to see the variety!!

   Team #1

Team #2

Team #3

And the one the moms put together…

The Running of the Marbles

Each of the teams {the adults included} managed to keep their tracks in place and run the marble down the track and have the marble remain in the taped box {some barely}.

This track was very simple and it took the team several runs to get the marble to stay inside the taped area, but it finally did.

While this team was able to get it to stay in the taped area, they had structural issues that took them a bit to get the run in proper working order.

The box that this team created and put at the end of their run was so neat and it only took one try for the run to work properly and the marble stayed in the taped square area.

And the moms even got in on the fun of racing and had a successful run on try number one.

Scoring the Tracks

Points were given to the teams based on a few different things: did they have a completed marble track, did the marble track actually work and the marble remain in the taped square, how far did the marble travel on the track, and how well did the team work together in creating and building.

Overall, Team #3 won based on the creativity of their landing box and the distance that the marble traveled on their track {15 inches}. The simplicity of the track from Team #1 though almost eeked out a win distance-wise {21 inches}, but because of the lack of creativity, the team didn’t earn as many points.

And the moms? According to the kids, we earned lots of points for our cool tunnel design, but even will full point awarded in all areas, our marble only traveled eleven inches, so Team #3 had an honest and clean win. {grins}

Links to Work on Your Own Marble Track Challenge

In case you’d like to work on the Marble Track Instant Challenge with your children, download the FREE printables below by clicking below.

Other Fun Instant Challenges

Be sure to check out these other posts for a little more fun with instant challenges!

• Bridge Builder Instant Challenge {building a bridge from a deck of cards}
• Boat Race Instant Challenge {building a boat that is sea-worthy}