Pool Noodle Pom Pom Shooter

This is a simple and fun project that you can do at home or for a big event. I had a booth with my library system at the Houston Maker Faire. We put all the materials out and let the kids go wild. I had 10 pool noodles (precut into 3" sections), 3 rolls of duct tape, 200 balloons and 200 pom poms. That gave me a total of 190 complete pool noodle pom pom shooters for a total cost of about $34.

Materials :

Pom Poms - 1" works best

Pool Noodles - full size 57" noodle provides nineteen 3" sections

Duct Tape - something bright and fun

Scissors

Serrated Blade - used to cut the pool noodles

Balloons - standard 12" latex

Permanent marker - for marking where to cut on the pool noodle

Tape measure or ruler - to measure each cut on the pool noodle

Grab your pool noodle.

I've found that the 57" full size ones are the best because they are no left over pieces.

Lay your pool noodle out on a flat surface and grab your tape measure. Measure out 3 inch segments. You can go smaller than 3 inches, just make sure it's long enough to hold onto. Keep in mind the shooters don't work as well when they are larger than 3 inches.

Once you've got your pool noodle marked, take your serrated blade and cut along each mark.

Take a balloon and cut a small piece off the end of the balloon.

Tie a knot in the balloon.

Stretch the balloon over the end of one the pool noodle segments.

If doing multiple pool noodle pom pom shooters do the following steps:

Measure the circumference of your pool noodle.

Cut two small pieces of duct tape and place them on the table. The distance between them should match the circumference of the pool noodle. Use this guide to cut as many pieces of duct tape as needed.

Wrap the duct around the entire noodle making sure it covers both balloon and noodle.

If you are only making one or two pool noodle pom pom shooters, you can just wrap the duct tape directly around the noodle.

Place your pom pom just inside of the hole in the pool noodle.

Pull back as far as you can on the balloon and FIRE!