Is anyone else wondering how they will pass the long, cold days of winter inside with an energetic child or two?
I’ve got one idea.
I don’t know where I found this idea but I am not the creator, only the thankful DIY-er.
Here are the needed supplies:
- Cups – paper or plastic. I used whatever I had on hand. I found the harder plastic Chinet ones worked best with all the handling. They were the most difficult to cut however. I did double up the softer plastic cups to give them more strength.
- Balloons
- Tape
Oh and marshmallows for shooting.
Expired holiday ones keep little ones from eating them. At least in Love Bug’s case. Eek!
First, cut off the bottom of the cup. For the harder Chinet ones, I stabbed it with my scissors to bust it out.
Tie a knot in the balloon, right at the part where the neck of the balloon starts to expand into the ball of the balloon. Then trim 1/2 an inch off the top ball portion of the balloon.
Using two hands, stretch the balloon over the bottom of the now bottomless cup.
This might take a few tries. The goal is to have the balloon taut over the bottom of the cup.
I found that taping the balloon in place helped little (and big) hands.
To shoot, put the marshmallow in the cup. Pull out the knotted neck of the balloon and allow the marshmallow to sit in the balloon cavity.
Release and watch the marshmallow fly! Sorry no picture. I was having too much fun.
I have tip on the knot placement. I don’t think the original idea for this was actually about ‘shooting’ marshmallows. But, since I like a good contest, I found if the knot was shifted towards the edge, it made shooting more successful. This is because when ‘shooting’, the cup is tipped which causes the marshmallow to fall to one side. If the knot/cavity is there, then the marshmallow will pop out instead of dribble out.
The pink and yellow balloons below are placed more in the middle.
In this cup, the knot was shifted to one side.
It’s not a big difference but I like the idea of having an edge on my competitors (read: MJ). For the little people, it’s just fun to watch the marshmallow fly!!
This game should keep us busy for a couple of days at least when the snow is piled high and the wind is blowing. Might as well acknowledge that it’s going to happen.
Take care.
-amy c
Thank you for posting these instructions. I was struggling to create a working model at home and these instructions put me on the right track and delivered excellent results. This was very helpful and I am pretty sure this we be a hit when we try it in the classroom.