DIY Slingshot made with cardboard tubes

This DIY slingshot is very easy to make and only requires a couple of cardboard tubes, elastic bands and a pencil!

When the pom poms are fired out of the launcher they don’t fall straight to the ground, but instead follow a curved path. This is because there are two forces acting on them. Gravity tries to pull them down, while the forward force from the inner cardboard tube pushes them forward.

Remember to only use soft or very light items with your slingshot. We used table tennis balls and soft pom poms.

How to make a DIY Slingshot

What you need:

Thin cardboard tube. If you don’t have a thin one you can cut a toilet roll in half lengthways and roll it into a smaller tube.

Cardboard tube

2 elastic bands

Pencil

Scissors

DIY Slingshot Instructions

Check one of tubes fits easily inside the other.

Ask an adult to help make two small holes in the thinner tube about 2 cm from the bottom.

Carefully push the pencil through both holes.

Cut two small cuts on each side of one end of the larger tube.

Put the small tube inside the larger tube and fix the elastic bands in place around the pencil and inside the cuts you made in the bigger tube.

Pop some pom poms inside, pull back the smaller tube and let go!

Slingshot Extension Task

Experiment firing at different angles to see how the trajectory of the pom poms changes

More Science for Kids

Try one of my easy experiments that make things fly.

Have a go at another experiment for learning about gravity.

Or, try one of my easy STEM challenges using cardboard.

Last Updated on October 10, 2022 by Emma Vanstone