This is the fourth in a series five Olympic themed activities. Previous I have shared a paper plate ski lift with a pulley, a magnetic figure skating activity, and an interactive snowboarding craft. Children will have fun decorating the printable ski jumper and launching it from a straw rocket. This is one of those cool science projects that that can be explored a number of ways. Your children can decide how to hold the rocket to make the skier jump horizontally or vertically.
Cool Science Projects
Getting Ready for the Projects
Before children can create their straw rockets you will need to download the Ski Jumping Straw Rockets Printable. It is a black and white printable. Your children can decorate the ski jumpers helmet and ski suit anyway they like. They may want to decorate to in the colors of their favorite country.
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Each of your children will also need a standard and extra large milkshake straws to build their straw rocket.
Putting the Cool Science Project Together
Children will need to cut off a piece of the large straw about 2 and a half inches long. They will need to tape one end of the straw closed.
Then they will need to color their ski jumper. As I mentioned above, children can color it to match the colors of their favorite countries flag.
Once the ski jumper is colored, they can glue or tape the ski jumper to the section of the large straw. The top of the skier’s helmet should be facing the taped end of the straw.
Finally, the ski jumper on the straw section will need to be placed on the standard straw.
Making the Ski Jumper Jump
Children can hold the straw horizontally or vertically. Then they will need to blow as hard as they can. It is the strength of the air traveling through the straw that makes the ski jumper jump.
You can lay a ruler, tape measure or measuring tape on the ground. Your children can try to get the ski jumper to travel farther and farther down the measuring tool. You could even award a gold medal to the child that gets it to travel the farthest.
If your children love straw rocket activities here are some more I have created:
How to Make Firework Straw Rockets
Below you will find several children’s book about skiing. Only one is about ski jumping. (There aren’t a lot of books about ski jumping.) The others are about learning to ski. I thought hour children would enjoy them. You will also find the large straw we used in this project.
