Ping Pong Ball Shooters

We got this fantastic idea for ping pong ball shooters from Come Together Kids.  I made a couple of revisions – they used them to shoot pom poms and mini marshmallows, and said that the mini marshmallows worked the best.  We didn’t have any mini marshmallows, and they’re not a great thing to have landing on the floor with a crawling baby in the house anyway.  So we used ping pong balls.  They shoot great, don’t damage anything, and the baby can’t fit them in his mouth!

The boys have been running around the house shooting ping pong balls – great indoor fun for bad weather days!

To make one:

• Cut the bottom third off of a restaurant/movie theater/sports venue freebie cup with heavy scissors or a utility knife – this is an adult job!  (Laura at Come Together Kids used disposable cups, but had to double them up for strength, so we decided to use plastic cups.)
• Tie a balloon shut – with no air in it.
• Cut the top off the balloon.
• Stretch the balloon around the mouth end of the cup.
• To shoot, simply pull on the knot end of the balloon and let go!

Make it a Science and Math Activity:

Before we shot ping pong balls with our shooters, we actually used them for a science and math activity.  Aidan and Gresham (ages 9 and 6) gathered items from around the house.  They used grape tomatoes, an eraser, plastic Trio toys, pom pom balls, and a cap to a gluestick.  I had Aidan make a masking tape line on the carpet for a starting line.  Then, they tested each item and measured how far it traveled when they shot it out of their shooter.  They recorded their results in a chart.  Aidan’s math curriculum has been really difficult lately, and he was so happy to take a break from his book and do something active with math!

Aidan also had fun shooting the ping pong balls straight into the air and trying to catch them in the cup.

More Indoor Activities with Shooting and Throwing:

Angry Birds beanbags and blocks game - Who doesn’t love Angry Birds?

Shoot cotton balls with plastic fork catapults - This one makes for a silly evening of family fun!

Make indoor snowballs and have a snowball fight - Made out of tights.  I had to buy some just for this activity – ha!

• 

• Tweet

October 13th, 2012 | Tags: Ages 5-7, Ages 8-10, Family Fun, Good for a Rainy Day, Homeschooling | Category: Ages 5-7, Ages 8-10, Family Fun

6 comments to Ping Pong Ball Shooters

• Sheri

  October 14, 2012 at 11:49 am · Reply

  SOoooo excited to try this out with the 7 boys at my house (including my husband, lol)! How fun!!!
  ~Sheri

• Christy

  October 22, 2012 at 6:37 pm · Reply

  DUDE! This is awesome. I will be making my boys some this week. Thanks for linking up to tip-toe thru tuesday. I hope we see you again this week!

• Transfer of Energy Science Experiment « Frugal Fun For Boys

  November 14, 2012 at 8:42 pm · Reply

  [...] between potential energy (stored energy), and kinetic energy (the energy of moving things).  Our ping pong ball shooters were the perfect thing to learn about potential and kinetic energy!  When you stretch the [...]

• Baby Play: Ping Pong Balls in a Container « Frugal Fun For Boys

  January 14, 2013 at 10:01 pm · Reply

  [...] he is not exploring the dog’s water dish.  We had some ping pong balls out after making our ping pong ball shooters the other day, so I put them in a container for some instant [...]

• Tonia

  March 28, 2013 at 8:17 pm · Reply

  What a great idea! I had seen this done with the pom poms and marshmallows, like you mentioned, but ping pong balls will be way more fun, especially for my older boys. Thanks for sharing!!

• 10 Ways for Kids to Burn off Energy (Without Tearing Down the House!) - Frugal Fun For Boys

  May 4, 2013 at 4:22 pm · Reply

  [...] 4.  Fling cotton balls with plastic fork catapults.  This is as simple (and fun!) as it sounds.  Or, recycle plastic restaurant cups into ping pong ball shooters! [...]