Loads of Fun - Homemade Pom Pom Shooter

I have seen "marshmallow shooters" or "pom pom shooters" on the Internet. I thought the kids would love this activity so we tried our own version today.

The shooters I have seen call for plastic cups, balloons, scissors, pom poms or marshmallows. I didn't have the plastic cups, but I always have a basket full of toilet paper rolls and paper towels rolls for crafting and creativity. So, I thought I would cut the toilet paper rolls in half (this was our "cup"). Then, I tied the bottom of the balloons and cut about 1/2" off the top of the balloons. I also used a rubber band to help hold the balloon in place on the roll.

You just put the cut part of the balloon over one end of the roll and then secure it with a rubber band (make sure the tied end of the balloon is coming out at the end). This picture shows what it looks like all put together. Now the fun begins...... put the pom pom or marshmallow inside the roll and then pull back the tied end of the balloon and let go!!!! Sometimes the tied end of the balloon goes inside the roll, but my daughter found out if you just blow inside the roll, it pops right out! What a cheap activity to make and how much fun they had with this! See how fun recycling can be!!!!

 

Witches Hat Project

My 4 year old daughter and I were home one October morning and she wanted to do a project, but I didn't have anything planned so I decided to take a look through the recycling bin and see what we could come up with. I had some really thin cardboard-like paper in there so we put it to use. With the first piece of paper, I rolled it to make a cone and then had her paint that black. Next, I cut a ring out of the other one to fit the base of the cone. I had her paint the ring black as well. When they were dry, I set the cone inside the ring and piped some hot glue to hold them together. On top of the hot glue, I wrapped pipe cleaners around it so it kind of "disguised" the seam. We went through our foam stickers and we found some ones that would look perfect on the witches hat. It turned out so cute. She was really proud of it. She wanted to wear it, but it wasn't big enough so when we make one again next year, I will be sure to make it big enough to fit her head. We used the witch hat as a centerpiece at our Halloween party and I also used it for one of the games. I made rings out of pipe cleaners and the kids had to try and throw the ring on to the cone of the hat! They loved it! Our "spur of the moment" project turned out to be one of the better ones we have ever done! Cheap too! : )