Film Canister Rockets

First, you need a white 35 mm film canister.  The black ones with the grey lids don't work very well.  (With the popularity of digital cameras, film canisters are getting harder and harder to find.  I had one in my beading kit; LaDale found some on eBay.  So if you look around, you might get lucky.)

Then all you need are regular old Alka-Selzter tablets, water, and space to play.

Of course, it's more fun if you have some incredibly adorable children to help you.

With eight children looking on, put a little water in the canister.  (The less water, the higher the rocket flies.)   

 Add the Alka-Selzter tablet.

Quickly snap the cap on the canister.  Rest it UPSIDE DOWN on the ground.  Stand back.

And watch it fly!

It helps to have your camera ready to catch the awesome reactions.

Depending on the amount of water, we were shooting that little plastic canister 20-30 feet into the air.  It sometimes hit the power lines strung above our yard.  At one point, the canister wasn't quite upright when it blasted off, and it came down right over my head.  I didn't dare look up, because I knew that if it hit my head it might hurt a little, but if it landed on my eye that might be a different story.

Instead, with precision we couldn't repeat if we tried, it landed a perfect hole-in-one into my cupholder on the chair.

This activity was super fun for our under-ten-year-old brood, keeping them busy (even with only one canister, and having to take turns pouring the water) for at least forty minutes.  And it is way less messy (and sticky) than the similar Mentos + Coke trick.

LaDale took my canister so she could be sure to buy the right kinds for her 5th graders next year. So now I need to scrounge another one up, because we had so much fun I want to do it again!