Indoor Boredom Buster: DIY Balloon Cannon

As winter continues to drag on forever like it normally does here in the prairies, both the boys and I have been itching for spring to arrive so that we can play outside more.

Unfortunately, we've been struck with another round of ridiculously cold temperatures. That means, outdoor play has been out of the question. And all the old standbys for entertainment weren't enough to keep the boys and I sane. So I needed a new boredom buster idea for the kids.Then inspiration struck. So I tried setting up my idea.It failed. Boo!But then I had another idea! A better idea! An awesome idea, if I do say so myself. Introducing the giant balloon cannon! 

Okay, it doesn't look glamorous or anything, but it kept the boys busy for nearly two hours straight. Yes, two whole hours! And on a cold winter day, it was exactly what we needed.

What You Need 

• standing fan
• play tunnel
• balloons
• chairs

The lovely thing about play tunnels is that they already have strings on the ends for when it's time to tie them up for storage. The strings, however, can easily be tied to the cage of the fan. So I tied one end to the fan, draped the tunnel over a couple of chairs, filled it with balloons, and let the fun begin. I also put a small storage ottoman in front of the fan to prevent it from tipping over. This set-up for the balloon cannon worked well initially, but eventually the balloons got stuck on the tops of the chairs. "Um, Mom. The balloons are stuck..."

So I reconfigured the chairs into a much better balloon firing position.

After about 10 minutes of set up, including blowing up balloons, the boys were set to go. And honestly, once it was set up, I didn't have to do anything else. The boys filled the tunnel with balloons and turned the fan off and on all by themselves. And most importantly, they had a blast!