Monday, May 27, 2013

Recyle old magazines into colorful stomp rockets

20130519-114337-001.JPGSafety notes: Either launch a sufficient distance from people or have everyone close by wear safety goggles or both.  Never launch at people.  If launching by direct blowing, you are responsible for checking whether (a) the project meets your local legal definition of a blowgun and (b) whether blowguns are legal at your location.  Children need to be supervised.

Stomp rockets are launched by stomping on a plastic bottle, but they can also be launched by just blowing into a tube.

Ingredients and tools: Old glossy magazine, including some mail-in cards or other cardstock Paper glue (we used Aleene's Tacky Glue) 1/2" CPVC pipe, 12" to 60" as per preference Scissors and/or utility knife Safety goggles for launch You can just use the above and launch by blowing, blowgun-style, or you can add:
2L soda bottle (we used a Gatorade bottle as that's all we had at home, and this was a quick weekend morning project) segment of old bicycle inner tube rubber bands / shoelaces / etc. or you can build one of these fancy launchers.20130519-091533.JPG1. Cut a colorful page from a magazine.  Make sure the edges don't have rips.  You can use a utility knife and a rule to cut a lot of them at once.

2. Roll page around CPVC pipe.  Make sure it's loose but not too loose.  It needs to slide very smoothly, but if you leave too much of a gap, air will escape.  You can experiment and see what works best.  

3. Glue the outside edge in place.  Make sure none of the outside edge is loose, and don't get glue on the pipe as it'll impede movement.


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