How many rubber bands does it take to explode a pumpkin? It is important to make sure the pumpkin is not too big or too small. You want to be able to fit the rubber bands around it but also have them be tight. We put our rubber bands in piles of ten to practice counting by tens. Make sure to wear safety glasses to protect your eyes.
Materials (aff link):
Medium Size Pumpkin (hallow sounding)
Rubberbands
Piece of Paper
Pen or pencil
Table
Saftey glasses
Here is a video of the boys doing the activity!
This experiment is great for outside. We put our pumpkin on a table. Then the boys counted the rubber bands in piles of ten. On a piece of paper we wrote increments of ten.
We started by putting the rubber bands around the pumpkin one by one. This activity is great for fine motors and teamwork. When the boys would finish a pile of ten they would cross off the number on the paper.
We kept stretching the rubber bands around until the pressure of all the rubber bands combined overpowered the toughness of the pumpkin and it exploded! We ended up using 146 rubber bands. Results will vary based on the pumpkin and the size and strength of the rubber bands used. Be prepared because it pops out of nowhere!
