Wednesday 14 January 2009

Painted Marble Run

I've been feeling a bit guilty because we've been meaning to make this for months, and never quite got round to it...but finally we did and here it is! Although it is quite simple, constructing the corners was a little fiddly, and the tube at the bottom actually runs into the box so all the marbles collect isnide, instead of all over the floor. D's favourite part was probably the constant experimenting necessary to make sure the tubes were balanced so that the marbles would run smoothly into box, and trying to handle the masking tape itself without getting in a tangle.




D loves it, and was even keen to paint it all over, painting being something he tends to find a bit boring usually. We used acrylic paint so that it would go on smoothly over the masking tape and shiny cereal box.
We managed to incorporate a sort of 'jump' so you can see the marble fall from one tube to the next.

7 comments:

  1. What a great project! My little boy would love something like that too.

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  2. very cool. And I can appreciate all those marbles getting collected back in the box. The paint looks great!!

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  3. I think that is a great idea! I saw something a bit like that but on a much larger scale in a museum once made with PVC pipe and ping pong balls.

    Again, welcome to the project! I'll have to stop by your square project later (I haven't had a chance to visit any of last week's square projects yet).

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  4. thanks for stopping by - JENGA of course...how could I have forgotten that great balancing game???

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  5. That looks very fun. Great idea.

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  6. He looks totally lost in the game :) Thanks for sharing. Something for when mine are older perhaps.

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  7. Ohhhh. Super fun! I need to write that one down for when she gets older. Or just build it for her while she's asleep! Unplugged fun for parents, too!

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