Deerfield Fairgrounds
34 Stage Rd
Deerfield, NH 03037
United States
Hey, diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Work as a team to design and build a unique invention that completes a chain reaction inspired by the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle, Diddle. Have fun finding ways to include elements such as a cat playing the fiddle, a cow jumping over the moon, a laughing dog and dish running away with a spoon somewhere in the working part of the chain reaction. Then showcase your invention at the New Hampshire Farm and Forest Expo in May or at the Young Inventors Invention Convention at UNH in March.
The Rules
Teams of two to eight youth, ages 8-18 can form teams to build chain reactions. Teams will be awarded points for the number of successful unique steps their machine completes and should record their progress in a journal and consider things that were learned during the build.
Machine Specifications:
- Complete as many unique steps as possible
- Include elements from the Hey Diddle, Diddle nursery rhyme.
- Have a run time of 2 minutes or less
- Fit inside a 16 ft2 footprint and be no taller than 5ʼ
- Be free standing
Visit our 4-H Chain Reaction Machines Webpage for help getting started.
Follow the links below for a complete set of rules and the scoresheet.
Hey Diddle, Diddle Chain Reaction Challenge Rules
Hey Diddle, Diddle Chain Reaction Challenge Scoresheet
For more information contact Claes Thelemarck.
For persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations, please contact Claes Thelemarck prior to the event. Given ample time, we will make any reasonable effort to make accommodations.
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. UNH, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and New Hampshire counties cooperating. Our programs and policies are consistent with pertinent Federal and State laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, familial/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
