DIY Marshmallow Shooter & Games!

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?  I get so excited about it because we have always had the focus be on the kids and make it a Mommy/Son or Daddy/Daughter date night. We’ve had a lot of fun taking our kids out and have a special night with them, and the past few years it has morphed in to more of a family fun night. This year we are on a tighter budget, so we’re staying in. I still want to make it a really fun night for the kids, so we’re doing a night of Marshmallow Games! Originally I thought of how fun it would be to do Nerf tag and have an epic battle between Mom/Boys & Dad/Girls…but as I was looking it was just as expensive to get the Nerf guns as it was to go out for the night on the town. So, my alternative was to make Marshmallow Shooters!! For just $15.00 I was able to get all of the supplies to make 6+ of the Marshmallow shooters!! We made two different ones so the younger kids could handle them easier.

I wanted to share this fun, frugal, and family friendly idea with you for Valentine’s day or any other time where you want to spend some time together and have fun! (We did a practice run on the games today to test them out for you, and all of the kids approve!) 🙂

Here’s what you’ll need: (Measurements for Small and Large Shooters are below)

1/2″ PVC Pipe
1/2″ T connectors (slip/smooth on inside instead of threaded)
1/2″ Elbow connectors (slip/smooth on inside instead of threaded)
1/2″ End Caps (slip/smooth on inside instead of threaded)
PVC Cutter or hand saw
Sharpies (optional)
Tape Measure or Ruler
Mini Marshmallows

Assembly: 

Measure out the pieces you will need, and then cut the PVC pipe with special PVC cutters or hand saw. **Please make sure to handle these with extreme caution and only allow the adults to do this portion of the project!!** After you are finished with making the cuts assemble as shown above. You can color the shooters for fun if you want, or leave them white. We decided to color them since we’ll have so many of them. *Make sure to mark off where to stop coloring so that the marker will not be ingested.*

Games to play:

Marshmallow Tag: In this game you could play it with lights on or off (and deck yourself and your shooter with glow stick bracelets). I also made a a simple holder for my little guy so that he could carry his mini marshmallows around with him. I used a leftover birthday cup, punched holes near the top, and then tied a string around each hole to make it a necklace.

Shoot for the Stars: I also had some left over decorations from a birthday party earlier this year and hung them up at our breakfast island in the kitchen. The kids took turns trying to hit the stars with the marshmallow shooters. You could also use small Dixie cups and stack them on the table in a pyramid and try to see who can knock over the most cups.

Marshmallow Target: You can print off this FREE Marshmallow Target, and try to score the most points by hitting the center of the target. I placed it on the floor for my little kids, but the big kids enjoyed the challenge of it being on the wall.

Fill up a cup: The last game that we tried out was filling up a cup. The kids loaded up their shooters with several marshmallows and shot them at the same time to see how much they would get in to a cup. This was a lot of fun and filled with laughter as we watched all of the marshmallows shooting out!

The nice thing about using the PVC piping is that you can take it apart as needed to get out marshmallows that are stuck and to air dry as needed!

I would love to hear about the games that you play with these Marshmallow Shooters, and how they worked out for you!

Here are a few Marshmallow shooters that are already made and can be shipped quick if that’s a better choice for you!

Marshmallow Shooter – $15.57

Ships Free with Amazon Prime (Try a FREE Membership)

• Shoots mini marshmallows 30 ft
• Dishwasher safe
• Indoor/Outdoor play

Classic Straight Shooter – $4.95

Ships Free with Amazon Prime (Try a FREE Membership)

• ADD-ON Item
• Uses mini marshmallows
• Shoots up to 30 feet

Alternative Games
Need an alternative to these games that will still make for a fun family night? Here are are a few of our family favorites!

Catch Phrase Decades Game – $19.99

Ships Free with Amazon Prime (Try a FREE Membership)

• Electronic Catch Phrase game challenges you to guess words and phrases
• Timer keeps track and buzzes when you’re out of time
• Choose from 5 decades: the 70s, 80s, 90s, oughts, and 10s

Jenga Classic Game – $12.07

Ships Free with Amazon Prime (Try a FREE Membership)

• Great game for younger children that want to be a part of the fun!
• Pull out a bock without crashing the stack to win at Jenga
• 54 hardwood Jenga blocks

Phase 10 Card Game – $5.99

Ships Free with Amazon Prime (Try a FREE Membership)

• Our kids love playing this game and they are getting pretty good at it too! Won’t be long before they’ll be beating me on every Phase!
• A rummy-type card game with a challenging and exciting twist

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