Build your own pumpkin pulley simple machine this fall for a fun STEM projects. Just a few simple items and you have a great pumpkin themed simple machine to play with indoors or outdoors. My son always enjoys playing with pulleys for hauling rocks or designing zip lines. A pulley is a simple machine that explores the physical sciences. A pumpkin pulley makes it pretty fun too! Make sure to check out all our awesome STEM ideas and our Countdown to Halloween!

BUILD A PUMPKIN PULLEY SIMPLE MACHINE

AWESOME FALL STEM PROJECT FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES

SUPPLIES:

Pulley

Rope

Bucket { Halloween themed!}

Pumpkins {big or small whatever fits or you have on hand}

You can actually find the pulley and rope at your local hardware store. The rope and pulley I have are meant to be used for installing a laundry line and together they cost about $5 which makes them awesome affordable STEM materials to have on hand all year round.

SET UP:

We had a cup hook already screwed into a beam in our porch, so I simply threaded one end of the rope through the pulley to get started and hung it on the cup hook. You could also tie a short piece of rope through the hanger part to make it easier to attach to a railing or even a low tree branch.

Consequently, throwing the rope itself over a railing or tree limb will also make a very simple pulley machine.

Tie one end of the rope to your bucket and leave the other portion of rope free to use for raising and lowering the bucket through the pulley system. It is easier to thread the rope through the pulley first and then tie that end to the bucket!

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How much weight can you haul with your pumpkin pulley simple machine? Fill your bucket with pumpkins and try to lift it with your hands. Now use the pulley system to lift the same filled bucket. Do you notice a difference?

EXTRA: If you have a scale, weigh your bucket of pumpkins first! I can’t say whether or not you might break your bucket if you choose a $1 option!

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WHAT’S THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE PUMPKIN PULLEY SIMPLE MACHINE

What does a simple machine do? Machines, like this pulley set up, make work easier. Some machines can have many parts and be quite complicated and some machines are just like our pumpkin pulley simple machine and are just that, simple! Only a few items needed to make work a little easier.

A pulley can lift, lower, and move loads much easier and faster than our two hands can do the job. Using a pulley system allows us to change the direction of the force we use to lift the object. It’s a lot harder to lift the bucket of pumpkins by the rope than it is to lift the bucket by pulling down on the rope.

Grab a cauldron, pumpkins, a pulley, and some rope and test out your own simple pulley machine. It’s really fun outdoors. Kids get a great learning experience with hands on play while they put together their own machine. What else can you do with this pulley machine?