Make Your Own Marshmallow Shooter
Homemade Marshmallow Shooters are such a fun activity to get your kids outside.
They are very easy to make with some basic supplies. Here is all that you need to make two shooters:
Supplies:
- Plastic cup – I used a Glad disposable food storage cup. The tops had cracked but I couldn’t bear to throw away the little cups because I just knew a fun project like this would come along. I like these cups because they are sturdy. I’ve also used regular disposable drinking cups for this and that is fine but they aren’t as sturdy.
- Balloon
- Marshmallows (mini works best)
- Scissors
Step 1: Cut off the bottom of your cup. This was the hardest part of the whole project because I had to stab the bottom of the cup with my scissors to get a hole started so I could make the cut. This step is for adults only.
Step 2: Cut about 1/2 inch off the top of the balloon. Tie a knot as you usually would.
Step 3: Slide the open end of the balloon over the open end of the cup.
Step 4: Put some marshmallows in the opening.
Step 5: Pull back the balloon by the knot and release.
Step 6: Watch the marshmallows go flying!
Both of my kids had so much fun with this. It was easy to load and easy to launch. My son experimented with different size marshmallows and different numbers of marshmallows. He says that the jumbo marshmallows are too heavy to travel very far. The mini marshmallows travel the farthest. While it is fun to load up the cup with lots of mini marshmallows, they won’t travel very far.
He says that 2 mini marshmallows at a time is his favorite way to shoot it.
You can adjust the height and distance that the marshmallows travel by where you aim the cup and how far back you pull the balloon. Here is the farthest that my son was able to shoot a marshmallow. Impressive!
We also tried shooting little craft pom poms instead of marshmallows. They are lighter and seemed to travel a little farther.
But marshmallows are just fun and much tastier than pom poms!
I think my son would try sneak some too.
I am a homeschooling mom who has been stuck in the muck – totally unsure of what to do. I LOVE your page! Thank you so much for the ideas and inspiration!
GREAT Physics application! For a fun comparison experiment, try cotton balls ( or pom poms, as you did) two ways:
1. Regular cotton balls/pom poms. Record distance.
2. Wrap them tightly with a 2 small pieces of masking tape to “scrunch ’em down”…and launch again! Record distance.
What did you observe? Awesome post, thank you!!
What size of ballooons did you use? Thanks for the ideas!