Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Cardboard Box Nerf Target

The children received quite a few Nerf guns for Christmas. Needless to say, the Nerf darts have been flying fast and free, since then. Tired of ducking, and weaving through the halls, I decided it was a good day to work on a project with T.

I got a pretty big kick out of it, when one of T's friends called, and he told him, "I'm right in the middle of a craft with my mom, and I really want to see how it works out. Can I call you back?" Big Mom grin :)

Project supplies:

  • a large cardboard box (we had a number of great boxes arrive at the house the week before Christmas)
  • a wood dowel, 1 foot long
  • a drinking straw (a little wider in diameter than the dowel)
  • scissors
  • tape
  • and markers.

We started by cutting a rectangle about 10 inches wide (so, the opening was narrower than our dowel), in one side of the box.


We used a bowl, to trace out a barbell like target, on the cutout piece.


Which, we colored, quickly, with markers.


Then, we cut a small piece of straw, and slipped it over the dowel. Before we hung the dowel across the opening in the box, we added two pieces of tape on either side of the straw, to keep it centered.


We taped our target to the dowel. We started taping it in the center of the target, but realized after we taped the dowel across the opening in the box...


...that we had to adjust it, so it would hang down lower on the bottom, to make it bottom heavy, so it would hang vertically, instead of balancing horizontally. It proved to be a good science, and math lesson, as we not only had to adjust the balance of the target, but also cut the hole bigger, to allow the target to spin freely, without hitting the box.


I'm sure the Man of the House will have some modifications to make, when he gets home, but for now, at least I can walk through the house without donning a hard hat, and safety goggles.


It's great to be a homeschooler.

15 comments:

Phyllis said...

That is adorable! You are so clever. I am afraid that mine like shooting (marshmallow shooters here) each other too much. Alas, I have to keep sweeping up mini marshmallows!

Ticia said...

That totally rocks!

Unknown said...

Oh, we have a few of those Nerf guns too- I think a good winter project will be some target practice now- LOVE IT!

Christy Killoran said...

There are a few new Nerf guns in our house too and we will definitely be making this. I think I have everything on hand!

Evenspor said...

Ha. We got some nerf guns too, and I was thinking of putting a target on a box. I like this version.

Christy Killoran said...

I forgot to mention that I love T's phone conversation!!!! That would definitely make me smile.

Debbie said...

This is so cool, any child no matter the age would love this.

I had a huge grin on my face as I read how T told his friend that he was in the middle of a craft with his Mom, How Special!

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

You are such a cool mom if even your teenager would rather do a craft than talk to his friend. And what a neat target practice!

Carolyn said...

What a great idea... well done for thinking outside the box!

Anonymous said...

http://pebblekeeper.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/craft-projects-for-mom/

I made one for the boys for a surprise yesterday morning! They sort of got what we were doing when we gathered supplies the night before - they were really jazzed to see it finished when they woke up! Thanks for all of your encouraging posts!

Aizud said...

I'm from malaysia n ur post really solved my problem..thanx a lot!

CarlyD said...

love it great idea!!!

Unknown said...

Wow, cool post. What do you think about these nerf guns ?

Unknown said...

Thanks for your post. I’ve been thinking about writing a very comparable post over the last couple of weeks, I’ll probably keep it short and sweet and link to this instead if thats cool. Thanks.
best nerf gun

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

DavidJohn - That's cool :)