Marshmallow Madness

I work as an after-school teacher at a local elementary school everyday, and I absolutely LOVE it! It's right up my alley as an elementary education major, and it's just a fun job. Each session we change up the classes we're teaching, and this time I chose a Marshmallow Madness class. I figured the kids would love it and there was a lot we could do to experiment. We started out making things with mini marshmallows and toothpicks and competing to see who could build the tallest building. Then we transitioned into races: how many can you stack on a Popsicle stick in your mouth, how many can you stack on top of each other, how many you can catapult into a paper bag, how many you can get into a cup with a straw, etc. It was a lot of fun, but the suspense has been building up until today... the last day of the class.

I usually tell my students what we will be doing because they seem to find out one way or another.  However, I have kept my lips sealed tight for today, and I was excited to surprise them all. They've been constantly trying to pry it out of me, but I knew it would be more fun if they didn't know. So yesterday I spent some time preparing to have an awesome time today making (drum roll please)......

MARSHMALLOW SHOOTERS!

Seriously, I have been looking forward to making these from the very beginning. You could say it's the whole reason I even made up the class. I was almost crushed because another class was having a pine wood derby race that would overlap my class. However, we figured it out and both were able to happen. First off, the race was legit, and the boys had a blast competing with their cars. I was glad we were able to watch. Second, my marshmallow students wouldn't stop asking me what we were doing! It was finally time to start class and I gathered everybody around. I took out one of the shooters and they didn't understand what the heck I was doing. However, once I shot a marshmallow at my fellow teacher I had them hooked, and they couldn't wait to get started. I passed out a bag of marshmallows and a shooter to each student and we headed out to start playing.

Can you say crazy!? As soon as I said go marshmallows were flying everywhere and I was a huge target (not a fat joke)! It was so much fun, and I wish I had taken pictures! At the end of our little war we picked up all the marshmallows and the kids carried on about how much fun they had. Talk about feeling like a little kid again... I had a TON of fun! :)

Since this was one of the coolest things ever I figured I would show you how I made them. They are super easy and cheap!

What you need:
Balloons
Plastic cups (I used 9 oz)
Mini marshmallows

Take your plastic cups and cut about the bottom third off. I tried using scissors and, I don't know if I'm just inept, but I could not keep the cups from breaking. So, I just used a knife, but be careful! It also helped to cut two at once to make it a little more sturdy.

Now, set those aside for the moment and focus on your balloons. I took all of them and tied them up as if they were filled with air.

Next, take a pair of scissors and cut off the end opposite the knot (the smaller the better).

Now you're ready to make this thing work! Stretch the balloon as far as you can and put it across the top lip of the cup. Try to make the knot be in the middle for best accuracy.

Now all you need are some marshmallows to shoot around! If we had time I probably would have let my students decorate their cups to make them more unique. You could also do a bunch of different games with it too... have target practice on the cement, or distance competitions, you could even do a kind of basketball thing. We just had a little war and reused marshmallows off the ground. It was awe.some. Seriously. And the kids had a blast, so it was absolutely worth it.

That's that. Hopefully you try it out...even if it's with your family or friends. Pretty sure this is one of those things that you would be pretty boring to not have fun with it :)