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| All the girls had different colored shirts indicating their "sweet" group. |
I was asked to help with a field day activity at camp; there are fun races and games that are set up as "Candyland" on a big field. Lee suggested a game with marshmallow blow dart guns.
Excellent idea!
(For those of you who may not know, it's a blow dart gun made out of PVC pipes and marshmallows are used as ammunition. More on technique later.)
It's really easy to make these blow dart guns. Head on over to Home Depot or Lowes and go to the plumbing aisle. You want the 1/2 inch PVC pipes.
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| $1.63/pipe--that's cheap entertainment and fun! |
Oh dear! They are 10 feet long and I needed about 10 to 12 inch pieces, but I don't own a pair of pipe cutters. Thankfully the Home Depot does (plus a hacksaw or two for bigger pipes) and let's you use them at the store.
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| Feeling all handy cutting my pipes at the HD. |
Because of the candy theme, Lee helped by "candy cane-ing" them with red, green and yellow electrical tape.
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| Lee did a great job making these plain white pipes look like candy canes. |
I wanted to tie the blow dart to the candy theme, so we came up with a game called The Peppermint Ninja Pow! (Note: We're into ninjas.)
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| I think my sign turned out pretty cute! |
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| Easy to make and looks pretty good! |
Okay, now let's talk ammunition. Marshmallows are the best in my and Lee's opinion, but I needed to think of something different since we needed to re-use the ammo at camp. Marshmallows are not awesome if you need to re-use them.
So I tried out a couple of other things:
- Foam ear plugs (purchased at Home Depot for about $3.00 for 7 pair) and
- Fluffy craft pompoms (purchased at Walmart for about $3.00 for a pack of 250 varying sizes of poofs).
Lee tested all of these options.
I opted for the fluffy pompoms for the activity since I could buy them in bulk for pretty cheap. The activity turned out pretty well and the girls had a lot of fun.
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| During the Candyland field day activity |
Lee, of course, had to show me the superiority of marshmallows, especially in machine-gun mode!
Gross! I always put the marshmallow in the gun then blow. Boys and their spitting skills--sheesh!
Anyway, I think this would be an awesome large group date or mutual activity if you don't mind getting hit with slightly sticky marshmallows.
Have fun!
Marshmallow Blow Dart Guns
Supplies:
10 to 12 inch long pieces of 1/2 inch PVC pipe
Marshmallows (or foam earplugs or fluffy craft pompoms)
Redd- It's fun to follow you and Lee in your "sweet" activities. Lee is such a deadpan comic! Marshmellows have been the weapon of choice when we've organized "Santa snowball fights" but I've never tried ear plugs or puff balls. Neat innovation. I'm guessing cleaning the little puff balls and the ear plugs is out of the question...but who knows. What do you do with the spent rounds that AREN'T MARSHMELLLOWS?
ReplyDeleteMy most fun involved giving a married ward sets of baggies with colored mini marshmellows and the blow guns you describe. We put husbands on one side of a big banquet hall up the Alpine Loop to BYU Family Camp one Yuletide evening. Marie Osmond's road manager, Alan Finlinson was bishop...and we just had fun unleashing all the Christmas time pent up "loving rage" between newly weds. I wish I'd run a video of all the marshmellows flying thick and fast between the two lines about 30 feet apart. It was fun to watch the couples hitting each other and going back and forth. Giggles abounded...and following the five second rule, folks were picking up the spent rounds and re-using them--or just downing them--saliva and all.
(I never followed up to track the incidence of mononucleosis that followed--but I never heard back.) I'm getting ready to show the co-hosts at Good Things Utah how to hold such a tasty battle in their studio. Thanks for the new wrinkle--and for documenting your adventures so beautifully. We loved the pie in a jar post! Jon for Rosie Howe in Holladay!
Because of your good example, I've moved up BLOG PRODUCTION to the front of the Web Design and Marketing Class. It's a great way to get started and enjoy early results without getting caught up in the intricacies of Dream Weaver or Powerpont!
Awesome, Jon!
DeleteI think you could wash the puffs after use in a mesh laundry bag and probably rinse the ear plugs then dry. Either way, it's probably best the marshmallow route and arming people with a couple bags each.
These are wicked cool! :) I pinned this to make for my nieces for a gift! How much fun I can imagine them having!!! Thanks for visiting my blog and for your nice comment. I really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteWinter, I've always known you're so cool. Your blog leaves me laughing and inspired. And hungry. Awesome. You're just too fun! I wish I were in UT so we could hang out!
ReplyDeletei am totally going to use this at one of my pack meetings, I have seen the gun before but never with a target, good idea.
ReplyDeletehere is the jimmy kimmel thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPgpRw9tiuM