Updated: June 17, 2022
By Jessica Mellon , and Christine Allred
4-H and UME Publication Header

EC-14  | June 2022

4-H STEM Adventures: Challenge 5-Mini Golf Course (EC-14)

YOUTH WILL BUILD A MINI GOLF COURSE THAT INCLUDES OBSTACLES

GUIDED VS. EXPLORATORY APPROACH

Adult facilitators have the option of choosing either exploratory or guided approaches to each challenge. Both approaches have pros and cons. Choose the approach that best suits the youth with whom you are working.

EXPLORATORY

EXPLORATORY APPROACH

Encourages creativity and deductive reasoning, lacks structure, takes more time, and risks frustration for the youth. Generally best for out-of-school-time settings, large blocks of time, and youth ages 11 to 13.
 

                           

Icon of a carboard box

MATERIALS

Gift wrap tube, meter stick, cardboard, masking tape, ball, plastic cups, toys and other materials found around your home.
Outline of an open book

VOCABULARY

LAW OF REFLECTION: The angle at which light moves toward a smooth surface is the same as the angle at which the light leaves the smooth surface. In other words, the incoming angle (angle of incidence) is the same as the outgoing angle (angle of reflection). This principle is the same for objects bouncing off of a flat surface. When banking a ball off of a wall, the angle at which it leaves the wall will be the same as the angle at which it came toward the wall. We use this in playing pool, indoor soccer, hockey, and basketball.

 
4-H Life Skills Icon

4-H LIFE SKILL

PLANNING: A mini golf course is designed to present a bit of a challenge. When you PLAN your holes, try to include at least one obstacle per hole that blocks the path of the ball from start to finish. It could be placing a book in between the start and the finish, or it could be designing a hole that curves around a wall.

DO

YOUTH COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY

Watch the Challenge
 

Video length: 1:17

GUIDED

GUIDED APPROACH

Provides structure, promotes good instruction-following habits, increases rate of success, and limits creative solutions. Generally best for classroom settings, finite blocks of time, and youth ages 8 to 10.

             

Icon of a carboard box

MATERIALS

Paper towel or other cardboard tube such as a gift wrap
tube, card board, masking tape, ball, plastic cups,
other materials found around your home.
Outline of an open book

VOCABULARY

LAW OF REFLECTION: The angle at which light moves toward a smooth surface is the same as the angle at which the light leaves the smooth surface. In other words, the incoming angle (angle of incidence) is the same as the outgoing angle (angle of reflection).

This principle is the same for objects bouncing off of a flat surface. When banking a ball off of a wall, the angle at which it leaves the wall will be the same as the angle at which it came toward the wall. We use this in playing pool, indoor soccer, hockey, and basketball.
4-H Life Skills Icon

4-H LIFE SKILL

PLANNING: A mini golf course is designed to present a
bit of a challenge. When you PLAN your holes, try to
include at least one obstacle per hole that blocks the path
of the ball from start to finish. It could be placing a book in
between the start and the finish, or it could be designing a
hole that curves around a wall.

DO

YOUTH COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY

Watch the Challenge then follow steps one through five.
 

Video length: 1:17

STEP 1. IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

Design and build a mini golf course using items you have around your home. Plan at least one hole that uses a “bank shot” to get to the cup.

STEP 2. IMAGINE SOLUTIONS

Think about all of the possible ways you can make your golf club and course. Here are some ideas to get you started. You can use a paper towel or gift wrap tube for the shaft of the golf club, and tape cardboard from a cereal box or a folded paper plate to one end as the head of the club.

STEP 3. PLAN POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Plan how you want to make the golf club. Plan how and where you are going to set up your golf course. Decide where each hole starts, where the ending cup will be placed, and what obstacles will be placed in between.

STEP 4. CREATE YOUR MINI GOLF COURSE

  1. Fold a paper plate or cardboard around one end of the tube and tape the ends together to make the head of the golf club. Tape the head to the tube so that it will hold together.
     
  2. Set up your golf course so that each hold has a beginning, obstacles, and a cup. Try to bank the ball off of something to see the law of reflection in action.
     
  3. Challenge your family to try to get the ball to the end cup at each hole in as few hits as possible.

STEP 5. IMPROVE YOUR DESIGN

Do you need to change anything to make your golf club or golf course better or more challenging? You can go back to Step 1, and start the process again to make the changes to improve your golf course.

REFLECT

GUIDE YOUTH THROUGH THE REFLECTION PROCESS

See a solution here
 

Video length: 1:31


Did your final mini golf course look exactly like the PLAN you created? Why or why not?

How did understanding the LAW OF REFLECTION help you design and play your game?

What effect did challenging your family members to play your mini golf course have on how you felt about it?

APPLY

CHALLENGE THE YOUTH TO APPLY WHAT THEY’VE LEARNED TO OTHER PARTS OF THEIR LIVES

If you have played mini golf before, how was your game similar or different to it?

Now that you have successfully created a mini golf course, what other games could you recreate with household materials? Could you develop a new game to challenge your family members?

REFERENCES

Download Challenge 5: Mini Golf Course Curriculum (PDF)

4-H STEM Adventures: Facilitator Guide

  • Home Page

  • Challenge 1: Marble Maze

  • Challenge 2: Tall Tower

  • Challenge 3: Catapult

  • Challenge 4: Marble Roller Coaster

  • Challenge 6: Mobile

JESSICA MELLON
jmellon2@umd.edu

CHRISTINE ALLRED
cmallred@umd.edu

Challenge 5: Mini Golf Course is a supporting document from the 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14) and is part of a collection produced by the University of Maryland Extension within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The information presented has met UME peer-review standards, including internal and external technical review. For help accessing this or any UME publication contact: itaccessibility@umd.edu

For more information on this and other topics, visit the University of Maryland Extension website at extension.umd.edu

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