4 STEM Zipline Challenges Your Students Will Love

When it comes to STEM challenges, I’m always on the hunt for hands-on activities that get my students collaborating and thinking creatively. One type of challenge that is a favorite among my students is when they get to build a zipline! This challenge is also one of my favorites because it taps into engineering skills. It also promotes teamwork and problem-solving in a way that’s just plain fun. Building a zipline is the perfect opportunity to get my students excited about learning while tackling real-world problems. Today, I’m sharing how to build a zipline and four different zipline challenges that boost engagement and bring STEM concepts to life in the classroom!

What is a Zipline Challenge?

A zipline challenge is an engaging STEM activity that challenges your kids to design and build a contraption that will help their character escape a sticky situation using a zipline. Students will be immersed in learning about force and motion, friction, speed, simple machines and so much more! They will be so engaged in helping their character that they won’t realize they are completing an educational activity.

These zipline challenges are a great way for students to see a science concept, like the ones listed above, in action. But you can also use them as a way to teach the design process or add a little critical thinking into their day.

Whether you are a STEM teacher or just looking to incorporate STEM into your classroom, you can’t go wrong with a zipline challenge.

How to Facilitate a Zipline Challenge

Don’t worry adding a zipline to your classroom won’t take a lot of hard to find or expensive materials. To start building a zipline, it’s all about preparation and making the most of what you have on hand. I love that this project is so flexible. It lets our students use their creativity and engineering skills without needing any fancy materials.

Gather Materials

To complete this challenge, students will need access to basic supplies like string, tape, and items that can easily be found in most classrooms, such as coffee filters, construction paper, popsicle sticks, and pipe cleaners. A list of recommended supplies is included in the zipline challenge packet. The key is to keep the materials open-ended, so your students can explore different ways to construct their designs. If you plan to do multiple zipline challenges during the year I suggest varying the materials each time.

Prepare the Zipline

While students are doing the bulk of the building, you will need to create the actual zipline in your classroom. Setting up the zipline is a breeze. I usually tape one end of a string to a high spot, like a bookshelf or cabinet. Then, I let it slope down to a lower spot, like a chair or the floor. This creates a simple incline for our ziplines.

Introduce the Challenge

To introduce the challenge I like to begin with a read aloud or by creating a story that leads to the challenge. Then before diving in, I always review the engineering design process that we follow. Displaying the challenge information and design process on the front board allows for an easy introduction.

Throughout the challenge, students will keep track of their planning, their progress, and any changes they make to their design. I use the included response sheets for this. You can print out the student pages or use the digital version if you’re in a 1:1 classroom, want to add in this technology component, or working with limited paper supplies. The setup is simple, but the fun and learning that follows are what make this project shine.

Time to Build

Once everyone is clear on the challenge and their task it is time to let them dive in. During this time I do my best to stay out of the way and avoid sharing ideas. That way students are focused on their design on what they think I want them to create. However, I’m always available if a team is stuck. Instead of providing answers, I tend to respond with questions that will guide them in the right direction.

As students create a design they are encouraged to test it out on the zipline and then talk about their results. The design process is a great way to teach students that building, testing, and trying again can help make a better final project.

Test & Wrap-Up

Once our build time is up it will be time to test out all the designs. One by one, each group comes up to present their build and test it out. We finish our time with a discussion about what worked well, what didn’t, and what could be changed in the future. This is also a great time to connect that science concept if you are completing the activity for that purpose.

4 Themed Zipline Challenges

Now, it’s time for me to share four exciting challenges where your students get to build a zipline with a twist. Each one is themed to match a season of holiday! From spooky fall fun to wintery adventures, these challenges bring STEM concepts to life and add a festive flair that keeps our students engaged and excited. You can find all four of these challenges bundled together in my Zipline STEM Challenge bundle. Let’s explore the possibilities of building a zipline for every season!

Having multiple challenges that are similar is a great way for students to learn and fine-tune their designs throughout the year. It’s always fun to incorporate all of these challenges and then look back at the growth students have had. And don’t worry – the challenges never feel stale because in each one I change up the groups and modify the available supplies.

Creepy Carrots Zipline

The Creepy Carrots Zipline challenge is perfect for October or the days leading up to Halloween. With the Creepy Carrots Zipline Challenge, I love bringing a spooky twist to the classroom by focusing on the creepy carrots theme! Before diving in, I kick things off with a read-aloud of Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds to set the scene.

Each group receives one or two creepy carrot characters that they must help escape. The characters will ride in the group’s creation down the zipline.

I give them a variety of materials, like paper, cardstock or note cards, pipe cleaners, and popsicle sticks so they can build their designs. Throughout the activity, I use a digital slideshow to display instructions and the engineering steps: asking, imagining, planning, creating, and improving.

Runaway Turkey Zipline

For this Turkey Runaway Zipline challenge, I like to bring a hands-on approach that keeps my students engaged while thinking of the upcoming holidays! I introduce the activity with a Thanksgiving-themed story, like Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr. This helps everyone get in the right mindset and spark their creativity.

With the design process as our starting place, each group will design, build, test, and improve their zipline creations.

I have my older students time how quickly their turkey travels down the zipline while younger students focus on moving all the way down the zipline without their contraction falling off. We take time to chat about what worked and areas we could improve. Then we wrap it up with certificates to celebrate their accomplishments and stickers to take home.

Holiday Runaway Zipline

For the Holiday Zipline Runaway, I love bringing festive fun into the classroom while we creep closer to their winter break! This is the perfect activity to keep kids learning in those last few days leading up to the break. Their energy is high, so we might as well use that to our advantage!

This activity is about designing a carrier to help holiday characters, like a gingerbread man or reindeer, make their getaway. While there are many gingerbread themed books you could use to set the stage, sometimes I like to create a little story of my own. From escaping Santa’s cookie plate to fleeing the gingerbread eating competition, you can make up a story that your students will love with just a little creativity.

Similar to the other zip-line challenges, the students will build a carrier for their character. The character must ride down the zipline in the creation without being taped to any materials directly. This means they have to think creatively about how to securely seat the character and attach the carrier to the zipline itself. I encourage them to experiment with different designs to make the fastest and most efficient carrier.

The students are so excited and take such pride in their creations. I love hearing them talk about the challenge with their friends.

Spring Zipline

In the Spring Zipline challenge, our students have the chance to design a zipline carrier for spring characters like Peeps or colorful eggs. Being the fourth of the zipline challenges in the bundle, this is always the one where I see the most growth in students. Leading up to this spring challenge, they have had the chance to work with a variety of supplies and try different designs. It is always interesting to see what they choose for materials based on their successes or failures in the previous challenges. In this challenge, it is clear to see all that they have learned.

But the great thing about this challenge is that it doesn’t have to follow the others. Each of these zipline challenges can stand on its own or be used in a series throughout the year. There’s so much learning that can happen from just one challenge that you don’t have to do them all.

Additional Resources

Looking for more zipline STEM challenges, make sure to check out my STEM Activity book! It’s a great addition to your teacher library or to use with your kids at home.

These build a zipline challenges are just a glimpse at some of the STEM challenges I use in my classroom! Check out these blog posts for more STEM challenges and activities you can do in your classroom.

• Pumpkin STEM Challenges Ideas
• 5 Christmas STEM Challenges Your Students Will Love
• St. Patrick’s Day STEM Challenges Your Students Will Love!

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