To make your tower as sturdy as possible, use wood glue instead of the basic white tacky glue. Each layer of the tower will be made up of four basic squares, so each layer will use 20 popsicle sticks. Lay two sticks vertically side-by-side across the two horizontal sticks to get the proper spacing. To align the sticks together, use a straight edge such as a block of wood or a brick.

Take care to maintain the accuracy of the square. This will be important when gluing the “floors” of the tower together. Make each module as square and regular as possible. Use a heavy weight such as a brick or textbook and lay on top of the glued joints to keep them flat while the glue dries. If the square gets bumped out of alignment, simply move the sticks back into proper placement. If the sticks dry out of alignment, you can carefully cut them apart with a knife and re-glue them or just make a new square.

Leave the square under the heavy weight for at least 15 minutes before moving onto the next step.

Put weight on top of the whole piece and wait about 15 minutes for the brace to dry. Try to glue the brace in the same place on each square.

If you want five floors in your tower you will need 20 squares. You will get better and better at building the boxes as you go along. Some of your earlier boxes may be “less precise”, so if you have unlimited popsicle sticks, you may consider building additional boxes and discard some of the first attempts.

It might be easier to place the first square on a raised platform so you can easily slide the other sides under it. Opposite sides should have braces going in opposite directions.

While the glue is setting, you can start assembling other squares or cubes. You may need to hold the two pieces together, allowing the glue to set a bit before you place the books/weights to hold it in place.

Wait for everything to dry. Continue to assemble other components while waiting for glue to set. Again, you may need to hold the fourth wall in place to let the glue set so the cube will be formed properly.

Each cube takes four sides, so if you want to build a tower with five floors, you will need a total of 20 sides. While your forming the cubes, try stacking them on top of each other and make sure they align properly. If they don’t, either break the cubes apart and remake them, or start with a fresh set of squares and make a new cube.

The vertical sticks should be resting directly on top of the horizontal sticks. Your cubes should fit together pretty well. If you have to work them together a little bit, the tower will still work, it just won’t be as sturdy. If you have to force them to fit together, the tower will lose structural integrity.

If the cubes don’t sit nicely on top of each other, you may consider making a new cube so they stack properly. Uneven stacked cubes will not be as sturdy.

Wait for everything to dry before removing the clamps and adding another cube to the tower.

When you glue the last cube on top, your tower is finished!