Do yourself a favor: Go on YouTube and look up “Rube Goldberg machine.” You and your child will be treated to videos of hilariously complicated machines built to take care of simple tasks. This one turns the page of your newspaper for you. Guinness World Records says this is the biggest one ever. There’s even one in an OK Go music video. (What greater evidence of cultural saturation could you ask for?)

You don’t have to be an engineering expert to get in on the fun. Here’s how you and your child can build your own Rube Goldberg machines at home (and practice STEM skills and problem solving along the way).

What machines did Rube Goldberg create?

Who exactly was Rube Goldberg? Goldberg was an American cartoonist who rose to prominence in the first half of the 20th century. Although he was trained and worked as an engineer for a few years, he didn’t actually build the machines for which he became famous; instead, he drew them.

In the strip that made him a legend, “The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorganzola Butts, A.K.” (yes, you read that right), Goldberg created intricately labeled diagrams of convoluted “inventions” that performed basic tasks. The comics struck a chord, and soon Goldberg’s name came to be widely associated with such machines.

What makes a machine a Rube Goldberg machine?

Merriam-Webster actually has a definition for the adjective “Rube Goldberg”: “accomplishing by complex means what seemingly could be done simply.” Most Rube Goldberg machines use commonplace objects to carry a silly chain reaction all the way to a tiny payoff. They’re the opposite of practical, but they’re a fun way for you and your child to take your creativity and STEM chops to the next level.

How do I make a simple Rube Goldberg machine?

You can break down the process of building a simple Rube Goldberg machine into three general steps:

1. Pick a task

What will your Rube Goldberg machine do? Think about small actions you perform every day in your home. Flipping a light switch, shutting a door, dropping something into the trash or recycling, watering a plant—the possibilities are endless.

2. Gather supplies

You can use anything you’ve got lying around the house in your Rube Goldberg machine. That said, there are a few staples you’ll see in most such contraptions: dominoes (or objects that can act as dominoes, like cereal boxes and batteries), marbles (or other things that roll, like balls, cans, and toy cars), string, funnels and chutes (like paper towel and toilet paper tubes), and containers (like cups, bowls, and buckets). You can also experiment with more complicated components like water and magnets.

3. Build part by part

Take the design (sketching your ideas beforehand can be helpful) and construction of your machine piece by piece. Most Rube Goldberg machines are basically a series of unrelated devices that trigger each other one by one, so it makes sense to build in chunks.

What are good Rube Goldberg machines I can make at home?

Not sure where to start with your first Rube Goldberg machine at home? Try these simple, classic parts as a foundation for your creativity.

Domino effect

Set up a chain of dominoes (or something similar, like cereal boxes) to pull a string or knock something over.

Pulley

Put a piece of string through the handle of a jug full of liquid, or over a stick, pole, or rod taped to a stable surface. Attach one plastic cup to each end of the string, face up. Drop a small weight into one of the cups so that it falls and the other cup is pulled upwards.

Pendulum

‍Attach a small weight to the end of a piece of string. Tie the other end to something stable. Pull the weight backwards and release it so that it knocks something over or sets something rolling.

For more Rube Goldberg inspiration (and lesson plans on related STEM topics like simple machines and energy transfers), check out Rube Goldberg Inc.’s free educational resources. And don’t forget to show us your inventions—tag us in your pictures on Instagram @hellosawyer. Happy building!