Pom pom cannons

Another balloon powered activity to go with the rockets. Pom pom cannons!

All you need is an open ended cylinder (we used a postal tube, you could also try a tin can or a cardboard coffee cup), a balloon and something light to launch - we used pom poms.

Tie the balloon up and cut the tip off the opposite end.

Stretch the balloon over one end of your cylinder, load it up with a pom pom or two and away you go!

It took awhile for Ladybug to actually notice the pom poms being launched out of the top but once she noticed what was happening she was forever "re-loading" with more and more pom poms.

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Balloon rockets

This activity was always a winner with the kids on rainy days spent stuck inside. Little ones love watching a balloon go zooming around the room as all the air gushes out and are fascinated when you show them how to 'capture' the balloon and send it zooming along a string instead!

All you need is a ballon, some string, scissors, sticky tape and some chairs.

Thread the balloon onto the string, tie each end to a chair (or in our case your husbands saw horses)

Blow the balloon up (but do not tie!), sticky tape it underneath the straw and let go!

Cue delightful Ladybug giggles! So easy!

***This could be done as a science experiment for kids old enough to understand (or to ask why the balloon zooms away)***

So why does the balloon zoom away? The balloon is stretched when blown up and deflates when you let go. As the balloon squeezes the air out, it pushes out on the air and, according to Newton's third law of motion (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction) the air pushes forwards on the balloon, which sends it zooming along the string we've secured it to.

Text from: http://www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_laws.html

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