Rube Goldberg Challenge

Are you ready to create something amazing?!

​A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next, eventually resulting in achieving a stated goal.

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• To get started, think backwards.  What is the task you want to perform?  A simple task.  Some ideas: turn off a light, open a door, pop a balloon. The options are endless. 

• Once you've got your idea, make a plan for how to get there.  Get creative, sketch out your design, watch some videos for inspiration. 

• Next get your materials together.  It can be literally anything.  Some ideas: dominoes, fans, ping pong balls, blocks, magnets, duct tape, marbles, miniature toy cars, toilet paper towel tubes, string....the list could go on. ​

• Finally, get started! Remember, it won't work perfectly at first.  Trial and Error will be important.  We can't wait to see your short videos posted to the Alaska 4-H page! 

Need some more help to get brainstorming? Enter our Rube Goldberg Studio below, designed by Kendra Calhoun, Youth, Family and Community Development Faculty at UAF. ​