Shooting Space Ships

Coolest activity ever! We made space ships that actually shoot up into the air using plastic cups and rubber bands. 

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . .

Blast off!

Miranda was so patient with me because it took a lot of tries before I got a shot of her rocket in the air. So sorry for the funny faces, but as we say at our house, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." 

I sincerely, recommend you try this activity because it is so much fun. When I made them and tried them out the night before, I had fun playing with them too. : )

Here's the rocket outline I made for this activity. Feel free to use it if you want.

Here's What You Need:

• two plastic cups (they have to be the same size)
• two rubber bands (thin rubber bands don't work as well unless you use a drill)
• tape
• scissors or a drill (if you have one)
• rocket outlines
• crayons

Here's What You Do:

1. In one of the cups, cut 4 equally spaced slits on the top of the cup about a 1/2 inch long. Put a piece of tape at the top of the slit to prevent it from getting bigger. OR if you have a drill - Drill 4 small holes  equally spaced apart around the cup. This works much better because then the rubber bands don't slip out of the bottom.
2. Cut one of the rubber bands and slip it into two opposite slits. Tie a knot on each end. (It should be fairly tight.) Repeat with the other rubber band. (You can see what it looks like in the picture above of the rocket flying.)
3. Print out the rocket outlines. Color and cut out. 
4. Tape rocket outlines to the rubber band cup. Pull the rocket cup down over the other cup and let fly!

I got the idea from familyfun.go.com.