Sunday School or Bible Clubs > Crafts > Crafts for Boys > Rubber Band Gun and Target

Make a rubber band gun out of disposable chopsticks, or dowels, or unsharpened pencils.

You will need 2 pairs of disposable chopsticks (or 4 dowels), 4 rubber bands, scotch tape, and a box cutter or hand saw.

If you are using disposable chopsticks, pull them apart, so you have 4 sticks.  3 sticks will be used to make the barrel. The 4th stick will be cut into 3 pieces to form the trigger and butt (handle.)

Place one stick between 2 sticks, overlapping about halfway, and tape them in two places as shown in the photo. This forms the barrel.

Slide the trigger piece between the two open sticks, and fasten in place with a rubber band. Start by putting the rubber band over the top of the short trigger stick where it sticks out above the two sticks of the barrel. Then wrap it around the the two chopsticks in front of the trigger so that it snaps back into place after you pull the trigger. End by stretching the rubber band back over the top of the trigger stick.

Make the handle by sliding one short piece between the two long sticks of the barrel. Place one rubber band around the top of the short piece.

Wrap it around and around the two chopsticks several times, and end by stretching it back over the top of the short piece again.

Slide the second handle piece between the two open sticks, and fasten it in place with a rubber band as explained for the first one.

Fasten the handle pieces together at the bottom by placing one rubber band around one short piece.

Wrap it around and around both ends of the two short pieces, and end by stretching it back over the one of the ends of a short piece.

Notch the end of the barrel’s single stick (which will hold the rubber band in place when you shoot the gun.) Stretch a rubber band over the notch on the end, then stretch the other end over the trigger. Pull the trigger and watch the rubber band fly. If the trigger does not spring back into place, re-wind the rubber band, making sure that the rubber band winds around the front of the trigger above the barrel, and behind the trigger below the barrel.

Make one fun target to shoot with your rubber band gun--or make them all for an arcade.  See instructions below

1.Cover a box with colored paper.

2. 2.Cut a mouth hole. (If you reverse this order, you have to cut out the mouth twice!)
   

3. 3.Download the sheet with eyes, tongue and teeth. Optional: draw your own design.
   

4. 4.Cut out the eyes.
   

5. 5.Glue the eyes above the mouth hole.
   

6. 6. Cut out teeth, and glue them inside the mouth at the top.
   

7. 7.Cut the tongue out of red paper and glue it inside the mouth at the bottom.
   

8. 8.Optional: cut a door in the back to get the rubber bands out.
   

9. 9.Feed the monster by shooting rubber bands into the mouth.

Cover toilet paper tubes with colored paper and write numbers for a score. Another option is to draw monsters on them. Topple them over with a rubber band gun.

1. 1.Download and print out animals (rabbit and squirrel)
   

2. 2. Cut the sheet in half along the solid line.
   

3. 3.Fold along the dotted line
   

4. 4. Make the rabbit and squirrel stand.
   

5. 5.Try to knock them over with the rubber band gun.

1. 1.Cover a cereal or cracker box with colored paper. Cut a square hole in the front and back. (If you reverse this order, you have to cut out the hole twice!)
   

2. 2.Download and print the sheet with the monster, eyes, nose, and tongue, or make your own monster.
   

3. 3.Cut the monster’s body out of 2 colors, so it looks like it turns colors when you hit it with a rubber band and make it spin around so the back shows.
   

4. 4.Cut the eyes and mouth out of white paper, the 2 noses from another color of paper, and the tongue from red paper.
   

5. 5.Glue the features to both sides of the monster.
   

6. 6.Draw closed eyes on the back side with the tongue sticking out.
   

7. 7. Glue the front and back of the monster together with a bamboo skewer in the middle. Try spinning the monster with the skewer resting on your fingers on both sides to make sure the skewer is exactly in the middle of the monster--you can move the skewer up and down a bit before the glue dries. If the skewer is not in the middle of the monster, it will be harder to make it spin all the way around so the back side shows when you hit it with a rubber band.
   

8. 8. Poke holes on both side panels of the box--be sure to measure both holes so the skewer doesn’t hang crooked. Use a tack, ice pick, or straight pin to poke a hole. Once there is a small hole, make it bigger by pushing the skewer through the hole. Keep moving it in and out and up and down until the skewer spins easily in the hole.
   

9. 9. Push the skewer with the monster on it from the inside. Push it over as far as it will go so you can push the other end of the skewer through the hole on the opposite side of the box.
   

10. 10. Use scissors to clip the sharp point off the end of the skewer.
    

11. 11. Shoot the monster with your rubber band gun so the monster spins around and “turns color.” You can even make a sound that the monster might make when he is hit with the rubber band--”Oof!” or “Ow!”

If you have a saw, measure the last stick, and cut it in thirds. If you have a box cutter, cut the the last stick on all sides since it won’t cut all the way through.

Finish the job by breaking them where the box cutter scored them. Slice off any rough edges with the box cutter.

How to Make Targets

How to make a rubber band gun

Download Pattern Sheet

Quick Targets to Make

Download Pattern Sheet for A4 paper

Download Pattern Sheet for U.S. letter

Sunday School or Bible Clubs > Crafts >  Crafts  for Boys > Rubber Band Gun and Target