Paper Bridge Challenge

Ten sheets of paper and 30 cm of tape. Can your team build a bridge between two chairs that holds a stack of books?

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Luke 14:28

Challenge in progress

Teams

Two to four builders on a team works best. Mix the ages!

Gap between the chairs

20 cm 30 cm 40 cm

Build time

10 min 15 min 20 min

Rebuild time

5 min 10 min 15 min

After the first test, each team gets one chance to make its bridge stronger.

Options Sounds Ticks as time runs out, a buzzer for “Hands off!”, and a chime for every book.

You’ll need, for each team

10 sheets of paper (printer paper is fine)
30 cm of tape, measured with a ruler (a school ruler is 30 cm long)
Two sturdy chairs the same height, and a stack of books about the same size, like paperbacks

The challenge

0books

Add one book at a time, gently, in the middle. Hands and feet out from under the bridge!

What happened?

Test, learn, improve

Test 1Test 2

What engineers do Engineers test, learn and improve. Every bridge that falls shows you where to make the next one stronger.

A flat sheet of paper bends easily. Change its shape, and it gets much stronger.

Use − and + to fix a count.

Test 1

Test 2

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Luke 14:28

Set two chairs facing each other with a gap between the seats. Measure it with a ruler.
Give each team 10 sheets of paper and 30 cm of tape. Fold, roll and tear the paper any way you like.
Plan for 2 minutes: talk first, touch the paper after. Open the engineer’s tips for ideas.
Build before the timer runs out. The bridge rests on the chairs: tape joins paper to paper, never to the chairs.
Test one team at a time: add books one by one in the middle, and count how many it holds.
Improve: talk about what failed, then rebuild and test again. The biggest improvement wins a prize too!

Put a younger builder with older ones. Little hands are great at rolling tubes and counting books.
Teens can try a wider gap, less tape, or a rule like “no tape touching the books”.
Grown-ups: ask questions instead of giving answers. “Why do you think it bent there?”

Draw your plan on any sheet of paper: sketch the bridge from the side, then write what you’ll change after the first test.

Enter or Space presses the main button. K pauses the timer, M adds a minute, T shows tips.
Testing: Enter adds a book, F means it fell, B takes one off. Then 1 to 6 choose what happened.