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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
One of the very first catapults was invented around 400 BC in Greece to hurl massive objects towards enemies and walls. The brilliant invention is mostly known for its usefulness in siege warfare, having been widely used in the Middle Ages.
Even today, though, catapults are still being used, including at the Sherborn Library to launch pom-poms across the Community Center.
Children’s Librarian Cheryl Ouellette teamed up with Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Program Coordinator Yvette Sammarco to bring a catapult creation activity to the library.
Using just popsicle sticks, rubber bands, a bottle cap, and hot glue, children were able to make their own customizable catapults out of which to launch pom-poms.
The idea for the catapult-making activity came from Cheryl, who aimed to host more STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) related events this month.
Several children came to the library to partake in the inventive craft, including nine-year-old Alexis and her eight-year-old sister, Reese. Once they finished creating their catapults, they quickly disappeared behind the bookshelves with handfuls of pom-poms to test their catapults, seeing how high and how far they could propel them.
Alexis also used the craft as an inspiration for her fourth grade STEAM project. Tasked to find a solution to a problem in their daily lives, Alexis thought of how she could create a catapult invention for her dog to play fetch with himself.
Eight-year-old Will Hayes also visited the Sherborn Library for the catapult creation activity. Although he had never made a catapult before, Will dove right into the project, decorating the popsicle sticks with markers before taking his catapult to the entrance of the library to test it against the others’.
The children launched the pom-poms across the room, trying to get theirs to go the farthest. They tested different pom-poms, observing how the different sizes affected the distance they went. After several rounds, the children concluded that the medium-sized pom-poms, as well as ones with sparkles in them, were the best for launching over long distances with the catapults.
As the crafting session came to an end, the kids carefully packed their catapults up with their belongings, wondering what other goods they had at home that could be launched.
