Boredom Buster — Marble Run

Rainy weather keeping you indoors?? For a fun time, grab a ladder, a few cheap pool noodles, masking tape, and some marbles.

Cut pool noodles in half down the middle, then invite the kiddos to build a marble run to see how many times they can make the marble go around the ladder!! (Shorter kids may need the help of a step stool.) Start at the top of the ladder, and tape pool noodles together as you go to form one very long track.

Did you know that it’s scientifically proven to work better if you cheer on your marble? True story!

Go, marble, go!!! Goooooooooo!!!!!

Have fun!

Reminder — Marbles are fun for kids, but choking hazards for little ones. Use careful supervision.

Comments

  1. Dear Valerie,

    My first thought was to say “My ladder!!” but, really, that’s your great grandfather’s painting ladder. One of the legs was shortened a little bit by a squirrel, which makes painting extra interesting!

    Love,
    Mark

  2. Pinned! :>) And pool noodles are making their way to clearance pretty soon…

  3. That looks like a lot of fun!

  4. Now that our ladder is so wobbly that Jeff refuses to use it maybe I can get one last use out of it……..

    • That’s exactly what we did… just used a step stool so the kids weren’t climbing on the ladder while they were building. It’s so much fun!!

  5. What a cool idea. Abby would love this.

  6. Looks like such a fun time! Did you use masking tape to connect the noodles? Did they stay together alright with that? Also, did you cut the noodles in half?

    • Yes… yes…. and yes! Have fun!! 🙂

      • from the 2nd paragraph… Cut pool noodles in half down the middle, then invite the kiddos to build a marble run to see how many times they can make the marble go around the ladder!! (Shorter kids may need the help of a step stool.) Start at the top of the ladder, and tape pool noodles together as you go to form one very long track.

  7. I had a much simpler version on my summer bucket list but this is wonderful!!

  8. This is absolutely wild fun!!!! =)

  9. mahthellin says

    Might try on stairs too – just make it curvy, not straight.

  10. This is AWESOME 🙂

  11. Whoa, this is such a fascinating idea! I have to pick up some of those noodles on clearance before it’s too late!

  12. It’s as if our ‘normal’ paper towel tube runs have been supersized by Tim the Tool Man Taylor! Awesome!

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  1. […] innerchildfun.com via Kylie on […]

  2. […] Build a Marble Run with Pool Noodles – lots of fun, and great for developing important problem-solving skills. […]