Play-doh blow darts

What it is: A fun activity where you shoot play-doh darts around the room! It’s a huge mess! So why wouldn’t it be fun?

Best for: A small group of kids at home

What you need:

• Play-doh in different colors
• A rolling pin
• Drinking straws
• A big bowl
• Somewhere to play with hard floors (NOT carpet)
• Recommended: A broom

How to play: First, let’s discuss the art of making play-doh blow darts.

Slightly old, hard play-doh actually works really well for this. As you’ll be throwing away the play-doh after you play, this is a great way to get rid of that multicolored mixed-together play-doh that no one wants to play with anymore.

First form your play-doh into a ball, then roll it flat with a rolling pin to about a quarter-inch thickness.

Take a drinking straw and press it straight down into the play-doh. Give the straw a little twist, lift it up, and, voila, there should be a little circle of play-doh stuck into the end of it.

Then all you do is blow into the other end of the straw and – zing! – out pops the little circle of play-doh and flies across the table. What fun! (If your play-doh doesn’t pop out easily, try rolling it a little thinner.)

So once everyone gets their blow dart making-and-shooting technique down, it’s time for a game!

Give each player their own color of play-doh. (If you’re like us with a well-worn play-doh supply, these colors might be varying shades of brown and gray.) Set up a bowl in one corner of the room. I recommend in the corner so the play-doh darts are contained and don’t end up all over the house.

Start a timer or play some music and tell players, “Ready, set, blow!” Everyone shoots play-doh darts as quickly as possible, aiming for the bowl. At the end of the timer or when the music stops, all players stop shooting.

Dump the play-doh darts in the bowl out, sort them by color, and count them. The player with the most darts in the bowl wins!

You could count each player’s darts, keep track of their points, and play for multiple rounds.

You could set up multiple bowls of varying sizes and assign different point values to each one.

You could give more than one player the same color of play-doh and play with teams.

You could get rid of the bowl entirely and just shoot play-doh darts at each other!

They don’t travel far and they’re perfectly harmless. It’s perfect for small kids sitting around a kitchen table.

Now, what about the gigantic mess, you ask? If you can, keep the play-doh contained to one area of the room, and shoo everyone out of the room as soon as the game is over. Keep everyone out of the room in order to keep the play-doh from getting smushed or spread around. Then just give it a few hours until the play-doh dries up and sweep the little dry play-doh bits into the trash. When they’re dry, they clean up really well.

Have fun!