Pendulum Art

This week in our STEAM Craft Month Challenge is Engineering. I picked this activity early on and it looked easy enough. Once we figured it out, it was easy but we did learn a lot about engineering while doing our Pendulum Art.

Our initial plan was to build the bridge from Lego. We love Lego and it is easy enough to build a bridge, right? Right…..sort of. In principal it was easy but it took a lot longer than I thought it would because we had to make sure it was strong enough. This meant we have to make it pretty solid and pretty tall. Using Duplo was a little quicker because the blocks are bigger but it was still not quick.

I thought we would be able to use any cup but you cannot. You have to use a paper cups. Do not even try it with plastic cups! We tried it with two different types of plastic cups – it did not work. Your hole needs to be at least the size of a pencil.

You will also need to water down your paints. They need to flow through the cup easily,

I know it sounds like a lot of work and it does take a bit of time to set up. It is worth it though, the results are amazing.

Once you have built your bridge, tie the paper cups onto middle of the bridge. Put plain paper under the cups and then, once you have thinned the paint a bit, pour into the cups (remember to hold your finger under the hole). Then swing it around and let the paint splatter all over the paper.

If you want to add in different colours, you don’t need to add a new cup, just add the paint into your cup, it creates a fun mosaic effect.

It really is such a fun activity. It is messy but honestly the effect is stunning. The bigger the paper and the higher the bridge the more you can make it spiral around.

If you want to check out what the other ladies came up with for Engineering, check out Moms Artelier and In These Stilettos.