Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Thrifty Gifty 2010 #6: Marshmallow Shooter

image

A few years ago these were the rage on my homeschool message board…everybody was making them for Christmas gifts.  We made a few and had fun seeing how far we could shoot the marshmallows (surprisingly far!) and also sent a set to my brother-in-law and nephew.

I’m not making a demo this time around, but I’m pulling these instructions from Camper Community.

Visit your local hardware store and purchase (per shooter):

  • two feet (24”) of 1/2 inch PVC pipe
  • 2 PVC elbows
  • 2 three way junctions, also know as T’s
  • 2 end caps.

Cut one 7 inch length of PVC. Cut five 3 inch pieces of PVC.

Tip: Place the PVC pipe in a vise and use a hacksaw for cutting.

marshmallowshooter

Once your pieces are cut, assemble the shooter as above.  You do not need to glue the pieces together; that way you can take it apart for cleaning if necessary.

To use, take a mini marshmallow and put in the upper chamber. Blow hard and the marshmallow will shoot out the barrel, hitting your target with amazing accuracy.

These are really fun!  I’m actually thinking we need to make some more as the old ones are long gone.  Paint them if you like, and experiment with different configurations. This family likened it to Legos in that they take them apart and put them back together in different ways,and with different lengths of pipe. They would make a great party activity and take-home favors. 

I found a news segment video which will really help you visualize the whole thing.

2 comments:

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

A gift about 15 years too late. My brother would have loved this as a kid. Maybe I can still surprise him. ;)

Angie Holden said...

Oh my -- marshmallows all over my house...I can see it now! :)