How to Build the JAK Bunny Trap

We're making a bunny trapped triggered by a pressure plate, which triggers a lever, which pushes the door of the trap closed. There are a lot of moving parts, so it's important to stay focused and organized. First off, you need to gather all of your supplies. You'll need an X-ACTO knife, duct tape, glue, string, a clothespin, a long piece of cardboard and a shorter piece of cardboard, a popsicle stick, and the top half of an empty water bottle. You'll also need an empty box.

After taping the back of the box, use an X-ACTO Knife to cut a small square so that the bunny can breathe. It's small enough to prevent the rabbit from escaping, but also large enough to demonstrate the trap for your classmates. Also, cut a small hole in the top of the box.

So, the idea of this trap is that the bunny will step on a pressure plate, which will trigger a lever on top, which will then push the door to the trap down. To start, you'll need to duct tape the shorter piece of cardboard near the back of the box. This is only the foundation of the pressure plate; we'll finish the rest of it later.

The type of lever we're using utilizes a fulcrum. Our fulcrum is the top of a small water bottle. You need to attach your fulcrum, whatever you choose for it to be, to the top of your cardboard box. Then, you'll need to attach the long piece of cardboard to the fulcrum with copious amounts of duct tape. After this, you'll have completed the seesaw lever that our trap requires.

Next, you need to add a string to the lever. This will help to finish the pressure plate. All you need to do is cut some string and tape the middle of the string to the top of your lever. Be sure to pull the string backward from the lever so that there's tension on it.

Now, cut a small hole in the top of the box. Slide the string through the hole, gather the string at the end, and then hot glue it to a popsicle stick. Next, prop the popsicle stick up at the back of the box so that the cardboard flap that you created stands up.

Now, you need to set up the door that will trap the bunny inside of the box. You'll need to attach a clothespin to the top of the door. Next, fold the edge of the lever and pinch it with the clothespin. Now, the lever is set and you're pretty much ready to trap a bunny!

Now, the bunny trap is finished! The bunny will step on the pressure plate, triggering the lever, which will then drop the door to the trap. You can decorate the trap as you see fit; we made ours brightly colored!