Ball Run

What you need

• fridge magnets
• cardboard boxes
• empty toilet rolls
• cut milk cartoons
• balls

What to do

Attach the fridge magnets to the cardboard boxes, toilet roles and/or milk cartoons.

Get your child to arrange the pieces to form a track the ball can roll down. Ask your child to move the pieces to alter the ball’s speed or try to direct it to specific targets.

What they learn

The ball rolls faster when the track is steeper and slower when it is less steep.

When less pieces are used, the time taken for the ball to reach the bottom is reduced.

Gravity is the force that pulls the ball towards the ground.

Encouragement questions

• Can you make the ball roll faster? Slower?

Extra activity

Try to roll different objects down the tubes such as chic peas or if you are using plastic containers you can try using water – just be careful to have a bucket to catch the objects or water at the end. Do different objects make different sounds? What things move faster?