diy {Shuttle launcher}

My friend Cindy told me about a project her kids did at the Tulsa Air & Space Museum. She was confident we’d enjoy it…and she was so very right. The concept is super simple: make a paper airplane and shoot it off using pvc pipe, tape, & a 2 liter bottle. Here is how we did it:

Step 1: Create your aircraft. We had paper shuttle models from Amy, so we used those. And I found where you can download the same ones! The base of the shuttle did not fit on top of the pvc pipe (this will make sense later), so I added a tube of paper that fit over the pipe and shoved it up into the shuttle. I recommend decorating your shuttle, then cutting and taping it all together.

Step 2: Create your launcher. Make and “L” out of pvc pipe. Tape an empty 2 liter bottle to the short side.

Step 3: Launch your shuttles. Slide the shuttle onto the top of the launcher. Take turns jumping or stomping onto the bottle. The air going out of the bottle with shoot the shuttle into the air. To launch again, blow into the pvc pipe to fill the bottle back up with air. You might have to re-tape the bottle to the pvc every now and then if it comes loose. Your cheeks might get sore from blowing too much!

My boys could have done this for a hour….my cheeks could not. I think this would be an awesome birthday party game. You could even let each kid make their own launcher and send it home as the party favor.

Happy Monday!