Thursday, June 16, 2011

Spy Party Game 9: Marshmallow Shooters

Last but not least, our secret agents put a puzzle together to find a bag of treasure hidden outside.

(Marshmallow shooters are great fun any time!  We used our party as an excuse to make them... but we'll be playing with these for a long, long time!  Don't forget to pack them on camping trips!)


The bag contained pieces of PVC pipe that could be connected and reconnected to make a marshmallow shooter.  To encourage the kids to use their creativity, I didn't give them a how-to photo or example. They figured it out all on their own!


To fire, spies just need to drop a marshmallow in the mouthpiece and give it a strong breath of air.  If the spies aren't satisfied with the shooter's performance, they can redesign it anytime!  Needless to say, this game was a big hit with all our special agents...



My inspiration for the shooters originally came from Instructables, but I liked  Roots & Wings Co. take on it for a kid-friendly mass-producible birthday idea. 

Each bag of marshmallows contained a rule sheet.  Use the one from Roots & Wings Co., make your own, or download a printable sheet of directions (6) below.
Marshmallow Shooter Rules


Each of our kits contained 16 pieces of pre-washed (dishwasher) 1/2"  PVC tubing, like Roots & Wings Co.:

  •      2 straight connectors (mouth pieces)
  •      2 end caps
  •       2 Tee connectors
  •       2 elbow connectors
  •      24" of 1/2" straight tube cut in lengths (one 5", one 4", three 3", three 2" pieces)
The tubing above works out to $1.84 each with supplies from Lowe's. Of course, you may want to experiment and see what works best for your kiddos.
Marshmallow Shooter Design


The straight tubing comes in 5 foot lengths, so you can make 5 shooters with 2 lengths.  When selecting the connectors, be careful to make sure you get the smooth ones... they come in screw-on/threaded forms as well.   

Consider purchasing a pipe cutter ($12.50) to make fast work of the cutting. I had my son help me measure where to cut and I did the cutting. Took less than 30 minutes!?!


(Added bonus... my husband likes to joke about how birthday parties are getting him new tools. He asked if I could design one that would somehow get him a table saw?  :) )

1 comment:

  1. great idea! I'm going to run out to home depot tomorrow.

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