Marble Run II

My kids always have so much fun with marble games.  When I saw this marble run over at Made by Joel I knew it would be our next rainy day activity.

By cutting the front off a cereal box and then using the cut away piece to create the slopes we had a fun game ready to go in only a few minutes.  Be sure to leave a small ledge at the bottom so your marbles don't roll out of the box, and wedging a piece of cardboard underneath the box so it leans slightly backward also helps the marbles to not roll out as they're sliding down.

Both my kids had fun with this, but especially my two year old--like hours and hours and hours of fun.  It's amazing how putting a marble down a shoot can never get tiring.

Yeah!

Free entertainment.  What's better than that?

Woo-hoo!

We never get tired of marble games.

Check out some of our past marble activities for more ides of what to do with your marbles.

Marble Travel Game
Marble Race Track
Marble Run

Marble Travel Game

Need something to keep little hands busy while waiting at the doctor, the bank, or while traveling this summer?

Here's a little marble maze game that can fit right in your purse to pull out at a moments notice . . .

I started with two 4 1/2 x6 1/2 inch pieces of fabric.

With right sides together I sewed a small quarter inch seam around the edge, leaving a small opening.

Clip corners, then turn right side out.

Sew the maze pattern on your fabric ( make sure you leave enough room for the marble to go through the maze), put the marble inside and then sew up your opening.

Super simple. Super fun.

I bet you even have the supplies just hanging around your craft room waiting to be used, don't you?

Go ahead. Give it a try. You'll be done in five minutes. Promise . . .

Marble Racetrack

I saw this idea a while ago and thought it looked like fun. Later when I found pool noodles at the dollar store I had no excuse.

To make the race track I took my pool noodle and cut it in half. I found that a serrated knife made a much cleaner cut than a regular knife. I then used toothpicks to secure each half of the noodle side by side.

We then made a starting line . . .

And a finish.

Don't forget to put something at the bottom of the track to catch all your marbles.

My kids have raced marbles for hours. They love this. It's a perfect rainy day activity.

Marble Run

My daughter has been faithfully helping me save the paper towel rolls for probably the last year.  We were going to use them to make a cardboard castle but somewhere along the way lost our motivation (okay maybe it was just me . . . ).  But when I saw this I knew just what to do with all those paper towel tubes.

Make a marble run.

We gathered some paper towel tubes, some scissors and magnets.

I cut widows into the tubes while my daughter stayed busy decorating them.

Apply some magnetic strips . . .

And you're ready to set up your marble run and have some fun.  Arrange the tubes on your refrigerator doors and experiment to see which arrangement works best.  The lighter the marble and the stronger the magnet the better off you'll be. Make sure you put a box a the bottom to catch your marbles.

What a great rainy day activity . . .