Lolly stick bridges

We found loads of videos on the web of people's lolly stick bridge competions - from highschool science classes to engineering students at university...and in every single one people were having a lot of fun!

Now you could do this with lolly sticks (or popsicle sticks as the americans call them), modelling matches (the ones without heads), balsa wood, or with the wooden coffee stirrers you get in fancy coffee shops - you can buy a box of those quite cheaply. For fixings you could use glue, sticky tape, drawing pins, or even string.

Standing on the bridges looks a little bit risky - not least because everyone gets to know how much you weigh. Instead you could be more scientific and hang a bucket of weights off the bridge. The figures in this video are in pounds. There are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram.

There are lots of other things you can do instead of bridges...how about cranes, towers, roofs or even fighting walls. You can even make a lolly stick bridge using no fixings at all - just lolly sticks and nothing else! Maybe one day we'll show you how...