Just A Simple Machine...

Simple machines.

They are, well, simple concepts that allow you to do something easier.  Examples include, a lever, an inclined plane, pulleys, a screw, a latch. The list goes on, but you get the point.  Every year the fourth grade has to invent a simple machine, write a few paragraphs about it, and construct the machine for class.  If you were really lucky you also got to do this in third grade.  Oldest was one of those lucky kids.  So, I had the joy of finding out that his project that he had three weeks to work on was due within two days of my first hearing about it, not once, but twice.

My memory escapes me as to what his third grade project was, but his fourth grade one utilized a lever to launch a marble to a target which would then catch it, deposit it into a marble run which lead down to an inclined plane. The marble would travel down the plane an land direct contact to a row of precisely laid out Dominos, knocking them all down.  And, yes, he invented and completed this entire project in two days.

Youngest was not one of the lucky ones who got the practice run in third grade.  So, when the paperwork came home for his simple machine we decided to get right on it, it was put in a very predominant place, and I conveniently forgot all about it.

Until this weekend.

I asked him what he wanted to do, and he decided a catapult would be a good option for him.  It utilized a lever, and a spring.  Plus if we used wood and screwed the pieces together, he could count that as his second simple machine within the project. Okay then....

Awesome.

Then, I had to open my big fat mouth and asked him what he wanted to catapult.  He thought for a minute, and then answered M&Ms.  Fabulous.  But what would you shoot them at?

We entertained shooting them at classmates across the room, seeing who could catch them in their mouths.

He suggested shooting them at the classmates he didn't like.

I suggested shooting them at the wall and calling it "art."

Then he decided on something better.

He'd need a funnel...

...in which to catch the M&M.  When properly placed apart from the catapult, it caught the M&M perfectly, but didn't deposit it into his desired targeted area.  So, he made a catcher's mitt from some sunflower cardboard we had laying around...

And to ensure maximum catching ability, we had to mount it to a base....

...with enough sitting room in the back for a small child.  Ignore the background mess, our creative genius is messy.  Behold!  The first ever M&M launching, funnel driven, Hoodsie ice cream cup decorator.  You simply place the Hoodsie under the funnel, and start launching your M&M's.  When you have achieved the optimal M&M to ice cream ratio, you simply pull out the cup and enjoy.

So there ya have it.

Youngest's latest invention.

It takes up 6 feet of the living room to decorate a three inch ice cream cup.

And until he has to pass it in, he's launching Rolos at his brother.

I swear, it was supposed to be simple.