Marshmallow Catapults

I recently had an epiphene. Is that how you spell epiphene?  Well, any way it was a small revelation of something nearly free and very fun that we could do together.  It includes marshmallows flying through the air and the word catapult so how could it not be fun?
We tried it out last night and it really delivered.  I think we spent a good forty five minutes in the backyard basking in the joy of making things fly through the air at high speeds.  Here's what you do:
Gather you supplies
1. a clear disposable plastic cup- (this type of cup seems to work the best, it's not too tall or flimsy)
2.  Two (at least) rubberbands that are the same size
3. A hole puncher
4.  Jumbo marshmallows
5.  A chair

Punch a hole through one side of your cup near the top lip

Then punch another hole directly across on the other side of the cup.

Now, take one of your rubberbands and slide it through on of the holes.

Then loop it through itself and pull it tight so it is snugly attached to the cup.

Do the same thing with the other rubberband through the other hole and viola!  You have here a catapult that is ready to be attached to it's launching device...

a chair.

So, just slip each rubberband over one chair leg, break out the marshmallows, and let the fun begin.

Start out easy...one marshmallow in the cup.  Your husband may want to the first turn ;)

See how far you can shoot it. Your child's face may look sweet and innocent at the onset of this single marshmallow shooting event.

Then, the thought will occur to them that it may be possible to shoot two, or four, marshallows at the same time.  Their facial expression may then look like this:

And, if you have a very chubby toddler you will have to watch carefully to ensure that she is not stuffing her cheeks full of stray marshmallows and saying "chubby bunny"

Soon, contests will ensue.

And before long your husband will be adding extra rubberbands to try to amp up the catapult power. 

When the fun of marshmallows begins to wear off, innocent and unsuspecting stuffed animals, plastic toys, army men, etc. may be hurled long distances.  Shoes may even be taken off and put into this little catapult.

But the fun of it all will outweigh your fear of being hit by a flying plastic chicken because your kids are having a great time and it was pretty much free and it didn't involve TV in any way...and because you kind of like catapulting things too.  You know you want to send something flying right now.  Try it out.