Last year the teens got a giant bubble maker. This is a large inflatable plastic ring that you fill with bubble liquid and then place the circular bubble ring inside the liquid and slowly lift to make a person size bubble.

Last year we had problems making it work, in hindsight we didn't have enough helpers or enough bubble fluid in the ring. This year was different!

Here you can see the basic concept. The bubble ring has ridges so it holds enough of the bubble fluid to make sure the bubble lasts while it is being lifted.

The inflatable ring should contain enough bubble fluid to totally cover the bubble ring - more bubble fluid also helps weigh down the inflatable ring and flatten it out making it easier to cover the bubble ring.

Using helpers to make sure the whole of the ring is covered in fluid two people lift the bubble ring smoothly and quickly.

Everyone had a turn in standing inside the inflatable ring while the bubble ring was lifted up, surrounding them with a giant bubble.

Part way up

Almost there

Starting again

Almost up to shoulders

Over the head

Half way

Starting to look scared

Eyes shut tight

It's over my head

How high can we go

At least this high

Almost big enough to float away

Looking good at hair level

Over the head

One last try

... and over the head it is.

Crocky Trails

Loved by everyone, Crocky Trails is always fun. Super slides, Giant Roundabouts, the Titanic and then all those bridges and swings over the stream. Great day out and fun for everyone.

It is a medieval siege weapon!

Well that was the answer - so what was the question?

The question was - what is a trebuchet? We had been asked this numerous times since it first appeared in our summer program. So here is what wikipedia has to say about it.

A trebuchet ( /ˈtrɛbəʃɛt/ treb-ə-shet or /ˌtrɛbjʊˈʃɛt/ treb-ew-shet;[1] French: trébuchet) is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of a counterweight. Man-powered trebuchets appeared in the Greek world and China in about the 4th century BC.

The counterweight trebuchet appeared in both Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean in the twelfth century. It could fling projectiles of up to three hundred and fifty pounds (140 kg) at high speeds into enemy fortifications. source

So we built a model one - and it worked, watch the video!

There was thunder in the valley!

Well not real thunder, just the sound of 12 pairs of young feet running up and down. Before lunch we went of up the trail to the waterfall - only to find barely a trickle. Then in the afternoon we went up another trail to the reservoir to launch our paper boats.The reservoir was still only a trickle so we

had fun rolling down the dam and stopped at one of the pools part way down to race our boats. Henry was the winner and poor Jess's boat unravelled and sank.

Wet and tired we headed back to Shrewsbury.