A Marble Machine is a creative ball-run contraption, made from familiar materials, designed to send a rolling marble through tubes and funnels, across tracks and bumpers, and into a catch at the end.
We often suggest a goal of getting the marble to travel from the top of the board to a target at the bottom as slowly as possible. But that’s only one possible starting point for what can quickly turn into an addictive experience.
You can set many challenges for yourself, the fun is in trying to solve them: make the marble travel uphill for a section, or go up and then come back down; try to make a loop-de-loop, or an elevator to bring the marble back to the top of the board; or even use multiple marbles for more complex chain-reactions.
Why we like it
What are the qualities that we value in this activity?
Reusable Materials and Components
This activity utilizes a set of materials that can be used again and again, by a variety of participants, in a variety of ways.Creative Ways to Express Understanding
Thinking is made visible through the construction and adjustments made to the individual Marble Machines. New challenges and questions arise throughout this process.Diverse Solutions to a Shared Theme
There are several different, individual solutions and creative designs. No two Marble Machines look alike.Collaborative Opportunities
Sharing each completed Marble Machine at the end of the activity is a good way for participants to contribute to the group’s understanding of the activity.
My kids love playing with this at the museum so we tried to do it at home- we built the “wall” and got dowels and molding and funnels, but we are having a hard time “stabilizing” the molding. I’ve seen that you use tape, but do you make grooves in the bottom of the molding to help keep it in place? Any other ideas on stabilizing the molding ramps?
Try clothespins on the dowels to help keep the ramps in place. It will prevent them from falling off when the marble runs through them.
Hope that helps
I love this activity and I think I’ll send the link to my nephew. He would enjoy it as well.
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I see marble runs everywhere these days. I can think of at least 3 artists, 7 toy companies, and 10 museums with marble runs. However there’s one thing about the marble machine in the tinkering studio that I think is unique, and that is that it never stays the same. The materials used and the objectives in mind are constantly in a state of flux. Reading the tinkering studio blog makes this obvious. I think this element of constant change is a really important part of tinkering. Just when you think you’ve run out of ideas, jump out of the box and try something different. Make a marble machine that makes music, or construct one out of nothing but toothpicks.
how do i make a marble go UP 12 inches (1 foot) on a paper rollercoaster