Have you ever played with these Marshmallow Guns? They are so much fun! You will want to join in with the kids on this one! And you can eat the ammunition! How awesome is that?
These minature marshmallows guns are so much fun. If your boys are like mine EVERYTHING becomes a gun.
My SIL threw a birthday party for my nephew and they made all the boys their own marshmallow gun. My son loves it!
You place a mini marshmallow into the end of the gun, blow on the other end and shoot the marshmallow at your target. They are amazingly accurate!
It is ALWAYS a good idea to have your kids wear safety goggles when using these guns, because everyone knows that it is only fun until someone gets an eye shot out!
I did a little searching on the internet about making these marshmallow guns and found this great idea for making a pair of safety goggles out of a 2-liter soda pop bottle. I followed these directions but used duct tape to line the sharp edges and make the head strap.
To make the head strap, I simply folded about 20 inches of duct tape in half length-wise and then put another 20 inch peice on the folded peice and folded it in half also. So it was 2 layers thick. Then I just cut it to fit with a little extra on each end of the mask so it can be adjusted for different size heads, after I threaded it through the 2 slits I made on each side of the mask.
You will need:
a 12 inch length of 1/2 inch PVC pipe (sprinkler pipe)
1-1/2 inch end cap
2-1/2 inch elbows
1-1/2 inch T joint
Take your 12 inch length of pipe and with a hacksaw, cut off three peices of pipe that measure 2 inches each and then cut two peices of pipe that measure 3 inches in length.
Take your parts and use the above picture to put them together to make your gun. This is a very simple gun style. If you want a different style, all you would need to do is buy a longer length of PVC pipe and some more joints depending on what shape you are trying to achieve.
I ended up making a gun for my other boy and they spend a lot of time in the backyard having marshmallow wars. They played with them so often that I never had any marshmallows left when I needed them. They buy their own marshmallows now!
So if you have a birthday party coming up, these might be something you would like to make as a party favor, or as a gift for the birthday boy. I was also thinking how much fun these would be at your next family party with Grandma and Grandpa and that pesky brother-in-law!
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Valerie says
Thank you so much for this and ALL your other tutorials! You have such brilliantly detailed pictures and such great ideas! I have linked back to your site a few times on my blog. Thanks again!
I’m always looking for fun and creative “boy” stuff. Thanks for posting this. I am linking to this!
I have been waiting for someone to post how to make these. Thank you so much!
I can’t tell you how much I LOVE this cite! You inspire me!
whoa!! this is way cool. Two boys and a summer ahead of us, this looks like something we will definitely be doing!! Thanks!!
What a fab Mom are you are, my boys will love this!
Wow, this is AWESOME! So much fun! I’ll be linking.
I know that my kids (boy – 26 y.o. and girl – 25 y.o.) and nieces (7-14 y.o.)would love to make and play with these too. I can see us doing this at the next family party. Thanks for the directions and pictures.
Thank you so much for that idea!!!! I am in charge of the crafts for my family reunion this Sunday and I totally couldn't think of anything for the boys (10, 11, 12, 14 and 19). I think this is something that I should probably get enough supplies so that the dads can do them too! This will be the highlight of the party I am sure:).
This sounds like something I can make with the kids I babysit. But, your pictures aren't showing up =/
I wasn't sure how to top the Lego party my son had this year, but now I think I can be the best mom ever!
I am so going to try this out! Both of my kids (boy and girl) will LOVE IT! Thanks!
i only visited this page and im in love with this site already! talk about love at first "site"!!!
Amy, how much did it cost for the pvc pipe and what was the original length you needed to purchase? Too cute I thought about making these for my boys last year, but ended up finding a pretty cheap blower online so I stocked up for friend presents. I would like it though as an activity for a b-day party activity that then becomes their favor.
we bought all of the parts for 12 kids and it cost about $16.00 ! perfect for boys birthday party and favors.
Just made 5 of these in about 20 min. Super easy. The shortest the PVC pipe came was 5 feet, so I decided why not make 5. We have plenty of friends that will love to play with them. My 2 year old figured it out pretty quick and is so excited to show his cousin!
We tried these on a large scale – we used them for our "Wild West" Vacation Bible School – cut enough for 170 children and they were the HIT of the year. All ages (including our 30 year old Director) were so excited about these and they were easy but interesting to make. We painted them and girls and boys alike loved them. Bravo!!
what kind of games do you suggest for a bday party with the shooters?
There will be 4 eight yr old boys at the party and I know they will love the guns, but I need something constructive to do with them.
How and where do you load the marshmallows?
Just wondering, did you cover the little…hole, I guess, inside the T joint? Because my marshmallows keep dropping inside the hole!
Love this nifty shooter! Thank you for making the shopping list and directions so clear. I too am making 5 shooters at a time..cost about $6.50. The best parts, PVC made in the USA and my little people can help assemble them!!! Will be following your blogspot for more nifty ideas!
Another idea for the goggles is, that we use the safety glasses that we get for lowes build and grow.
Was thinking another good way to make the goggles would be to use the elastic headbands the girls are wearing now. They type that go around the whole head, you could tape that to the top edge of the plastic, that way the part around the child or adults head would stretch and fit just about anyone.
what if you dont have pipes what do you use then?
What glue do I use?? I am so in love with this! Using it for a Super Saturday project at our church’s annual craft fair.
You actually don’t need to use glue. They hold together fine without it. That way you can rearrange them into different gun shapes if needed.
We are havin problems with the marshmellow shooting very far. I too am wondeing if you covered the hole to the T piece. WE love it though.
We have the same problem!!! Did you figure out a solution?
I like this idea! Give kids the fun of “guns” without the danger!
This is great! I have a suggestion that would be easier to cut it with than the hacksaw. Just use a pipe cutter, nice straight cut and no effort at all. I am so going to the hardware store tomorrow to make these for my three kids, two of which are girls!
Such a fun idea :)
Thanks Cristina! It is still one of our most popular summer activities…even the adults get involved in playing with them! Thanks for stopping by and sharing a comment!
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve visited this website before but after looking at many of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
Anyways, I’m certainly happy I found it and
I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!
Thankyou so much for this great tutorial! I think this will be the perfect thing for his birthday party coming up. Only question is, do you think 3-4 year olds would be able to successfully operate this? How hard is it to “shoot” the marshmallows and do they go very far with little effort?
Thanks!
-Ariel
They can go pretty far. The only thing I would worry about with the younger kids is accidently sucking instead of blowing and then possibly ending up with the marshmallow in their mouth (possible choking hazard). I have only used it with older kids (5 and up). You could put a piece of netting on the inside between the mouth piece and where you put the marshmallow in by trapping the net in between one of the pipes and then snap them together over it to secure it in place. This would prevent the marshmallow from entering the mouth accidently. Then I would think it would be just fine for the younger kids.
What a creative solution! Thankyou! My son is going to flip when he realizes he gets to war with marshmallows for his birthday! (turning 4 years old next week! Time to head to Home Depot I guess!)
Have fun! Hope he has a great birthday and party!
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I am using this as one of my hubby’s father’s day gifts. I am going to send him out on a treasure hunt with clues where he can find the next clue. Each clue will have a piece that when all gathered, will make the gun. Then we will all have a marshmallow war. My clues will be personal to my daughter like, “the place I was born” and “the first place you and mommy met” ….things like that. Oh this is going to be so much fun! Thanks for sharing.
I know this was a long time ago, but I’m thinking about doing it for an end of year Girl Scout Party. But since we’ll be doing it in a public field, we’ll need to clean up afterwards. So I was wondering, how much of a pain was it to clean up all the marshmallows? Or if you missed some, did they turn into a sticky mess?
JoAnne- We just had everyone pitch in and pick them up. They could turn sticky if they don’t get picked up. Have fun!