Cub Scout Popsicle Bridge Crush

Cub Scouts Building Bridges

Rockland District Cub Scout

Popsicle Stick Bridge Crush

Kids love to build, and there’s never a shortage of creative things to build in the Cub Scouts. On Sunday, May 2nd, the Rockland District held its first district-wide Popsicle Stick Bridge Crush competition for its Cub Scouts. Cubs from all elementary school ages competed for the coveted title of "2021 Bridgemaster".

But there’s a lot more to building the bridges than glue & sticks. Cub entrants were given illustrated instructions on how to build a truss bridge. Working with their families, the kids learned how to take measurements, follow instructions and how things work in engineering. Each entrant named their own bridge, decorated it, and gave it a backstory. One child mentioned that a "Dunkin' Donuts" would be on the other side, and another used a play-on-words on our Scout Law, naming his bridge "Truss-Worthy."

As much as they wished to keep their handiwork forever, the true purpose of testing their weight has to come. So, this past Sunday, our young engineers’ bridges were put to the test on the pneumatic bridge crushing device, affectionately called “The Devastator”. One by one, each bridge had its turn in the Devastator. When it was all said and done, the second and first runner-ups were from West Nyack, and Congers, and the “2021 Bridgemaster” hailed from New City, whose 100-stick bridge held nearly 100 pounds.

Well done to all our engineers!

To learn about all that Cub Scouting has to offer, check out http://www.beascout.org.