Rube Goldberg Teams Forming at Sports Basement Long Beach in Winter, 2026

I am Squigglemom, Trish Tsoiasue. I run the Southern California regional competition for the Rube Goldberg International Competition in Indianapolis. I am an avid fan of Rube Goldberg, particularly since 2012 when I hosted my first Contraptions class at St. Bart's Youth Center on 4th Street. It was part of what I called the 'Kitchen Sink' curriculum. Anything goes. Since that time, I have served youth at an elementary school in Santa Ana, at spaces I organize, at the LA Maker Faire, at community events such as the Scouts USA Cub Boo Ree and the Girl Scouts Orange County STEM event. In 2024 I created - invented - the RubeInator (Rube-inator), a mechanism for teaching about Rube Goldberg and the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest and for helping individuals get started on their inventing journey.

I will be hosting an activity at a local elementary school's STEM event in January.

I am doing this because the Rube Goldberg teams that came to the competition came from Ventura County, Calabasas, South Orange County, South San Diego County. There was no Long Beach Rube Goldberg team. There was one in 2021, when I coached my first Rube Goldberg team. This team emerged during the pandemic. The team responded to the requirement "Shake and Pour a Box of Nerds".

In 2024 I hosted the first Southern California Regional Competition in Long Beach. The requirement was "Put Toothpaste on a Toothbrush". There is no discussion of how to do it, what toothpaste to use, whether the cap needs to be on, how big the toothbrush has to be, whether the toothpaste needs to be outside of the tube. It is up to the team creating the machine to consider these environmental and design possibilities and to decide what they can do. Often teams use just what they can find around them. Sometimes they have to shop for items. Videos are linked below.

Oxford Preparatory Academy, Saddleback Valley's entry in the 2024 competition.

In order to prepare for the competition, I created and hosted a few events. They were a STEAM Party, a STEAM Carnival, a Day of Inventing. While they did not specifically target the Rube Goldberg competition, they were developed to include this.

In 2025 I hosted the second Regional Competition in Long Beach. The requirement was "Feed a Pet". There is no requirement for the specific type of pet, what food, whether it is in a can or bag, or what is happening when the pet is fed. There was a pet spa, a pet birthday party, a feeding of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. There were seven possible teams, six showed up to competition. Videos are linked below.

In 2026 we are working to create one or more entries for the competition. To this end, we have secured space from sponsor Sports Basement for 10 weeks of training prior to the competition on Sunday, March 22nd, 2026. There is a Scouts USA specific team emerging, and those who are not in the scouting program or affiliated with another program or school may form their own teams. Ideally, individuals will be matched with each other and with a volunteer coach and I will coach the coaches. Below is the Rube-inator at the Girl Scout Orange County STEM event.

I will share that there is no right way to develop a Rube Goldberg team. Each team of inventors is different. We will gather, organize into groups, use the stuff I have, and figure out what else we need to get.

WISHLIST

Here is a list of things I am seeking to support the teams. Both used or new items are acceptable. I will add more items to this list as we go forward.

• Balls with mass: tennis balls, baseballs, pool balls, two soccer balls, two volleyballs, lots of golf balls. A couple of pickleballs and ping pong balls would be nice, but not too many, as I anticipate they will be less useful in a Rube Goldberg machine. Perhaps the teams will prove me wrong.
• Rube Goldberg books with his art in them.
• Sturdy balloons of various shapes.
• Blocks of wood, all the same size, various sizes. (see video for examples of how they are used)
• Corkscrews, handheld bottle openers.

I am also looking for STEAM minded parents and community members who might be interested in learning skills for starting a team and volunteering as organizers. There is no special experience required for this role.

We are also looking for those who wish to support the regional with a sponsorship. Makersville Services is a 501c3 organization based in Long Beach and serving California.

The flyer below has the dates and times of the trainings and the competition.

If you would like me to come out to your school STEAM or youth leaders event please contact me. Patricia@makersvilleservices.org 562-225-9589.

This event is sponsored in part by the following organizations: The Port of Long Beach, the Arts Council for Long Beach, Farmers and Merchants Bank, Sports Basement, Makersville, Makersville Services. Thanks for listening. We would like to emphasize the contributions of the Port of Long Beach and the Arts Council both of which provided early seed funding for these programs.

Plese note: Makersville and Makersville Services will be moving locations shortly, so please do not drop by unattended tot he Makerspace in Shoreline Village.