Maker Monday: Olympic Luge Racers
Is anything more exhilarating than lying facedown on a skeleton luge, traveling downhill at crazy speeds? That’s why our Maker Monday Olympic lugers have such excited looks on their faces, screaming all the way.
Kids can race on their own with this fun activity that uses Matchbox cars and gravity to power their bobsled athletes down a curved track to the finish line. Olympic lugers have reached record speeds up to 95 miles per hour, but your lugers will move pretty fast too!
If you do not have any long cardboard tubes, you can piece together smaller tubes, such as those from paper towel rolls.
Supplies:
Stiff paper, such as index cards or card stock
Matchbox cars
Markers or crayons
Long cardboard tubes
Masking tape
Trace the outline of your car on the paper, cutting a strip as wide as the car and a few inches longer for the head and legs. Fold the head up and draw on the Olympic uniform and helmet on the back and put a face on the other side.
Attach the luger to the top of the car with masking tape.
Create signs for a starting gate and finish line for your racers. Decorate with Olympic rings.
Cut the tubes in half lengthwise. Splice multiple tubes together, if needed for a good long slope. Use masking tape to attach to a wall or door. Mark a finish line with masking tape. Hold your lugers at the top of the track. Then, ready, set, go!
Your bobsled lugers will fly down the tube and across the finish line to victory!
For more Maker Monday projects and other fun stuff for kids, visit the Kidsburgh Activities page.
