How to Make a Pea Shooter

At one point or another in our youth, most of us probably got in trouble for spitting small, wet balled-up paper through a straw at our classmates. This is simply a crude variation of a pea shooter. A pea shooter uses a tube and a means of propulsion to shoot dried peas or similar objects. Make your own pea shooter with just a few household items.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2-liter plastic soda or water bottle
• Razor knife
• Balloon
• Scissors
• Electrical tape
• Dried or frozen peas, pebbles or airsoft pellets

1. Use a razor knife to cut the neck from a soda bottle or water bottle. Discard the bottom part of the bottle. Cut 2 inches past the bottom of the neck to leave enough to hold onto. Sand the cut edge lightly.

2. Cut the stem end off a balloon using a pair of scissors and discard the stem.

3. Place the balloon over the narrow end of the bottle top. Use tape to secure the balloon to the bottle.

4. Drop a dried pea into the balloon. Small pebbles, frozen peas or airsoft pellets also work.

5. Grip the object inside the balloon and pull back. Aim at your target and release. Pulling farther back on the balloon increases the shooting force of the pea.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the inside of the balloon from getting wet and sticky by pouring fine powder into the balloon and then dumping it out.
• You can substitute the soda or water bottle neck with an empty toilet paper roll, an empty paper towel roll or a small piece of 1-inch PVC pipe.
• Don't aim a pea shooter at another person or animal, as serious injury can result.
• Using BBs or rough pebbles can tear the balloon.
• Don't use glass bottles or anything breakable as targets.
• Always shoot a pea shooter outdoors.
• Don't shoot against concrete walls or any other surface off which the peas can ricochet. Ricochets can cause injury.