This is something my brother and I learned from a book many years ago.  We used to do this in my grandmother’s yard.  Today, I showed Jen how to make rockets from matchsticks for her In The New blog.  I thought the video was so cool I’d cross post it here.

These are wooden matches, which don’t work as well as paper matches because they are heavier.  Some warmer and less blustery day, I’ll try this again and shoot for better results.

If you want to learn more, check out this Matchstick Rockets site for information and safety tips.  They claim launches up to 12 feet distance.  As I recall, 6 to 8 feet was about average when my brother and I tried this.

DISCLAIMER: This is playing with fire! Kids get adult supervision. Protect your eyes, and be careful not to burn yourself or other people. Don’t do this inside, or in the presence of flammable materials or vegetation.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 3:29 am and is filed under Games and Diversions, MacGayver, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.