Your kids will love making these simple snowman snowball shooters and launching marshmallows and cotton balls across the room! Measure which one goes farther and record your data on the free worksheet.
Looking for a creative way to bring the snowball fight indoors, even when there’s no snow outside? These adorable Snowman Snowball Shooters are a super-simple winter craft and STEM challenge kids will love! They’re quick to make, perfect for kids of all ages, and great for building hands-on skills in science, measurement, and creative play.
With this quick and easy snowman snowball shooter that takes minutes to put together, your kids will have lots of fun for hours shooting marshmallows or cotton balls. Kids can decorate their own snowman launcher, then send marshmallows or cotton balls flying indoors and with zero cold toes!
Snowball Fight with Snowman Shooters
Materials:
- White paper cup (we used 8 oz ones)
- Balloons (the 12-inch balloons fit the 8-oz paper cups well, but you may want to get bigger balloons if you are using bigger cups)
- Scissors
- Black and orange marker
- Marshmallows
- Cotton balls
- Measuring tape or ruler
- Free printable snowball shooter worksheet
Instructions:
1. Carefully use scissors to poke a hole in the bottom of the paper cup, then remove the entire bottom piece.
2. Tie the balloon.
3. Cut the bottom of the balloon off.
4. Stretch the opening of the balloon over the bottom of the cup – this will act as the launch mechanism. Your snowman has a hat!
5. Use the black and orange markers to draw a cute snowman face (eyes, carrot nose, smile). You can also add buttons or other fun accessories!
6. Drop a marshmallow or cotton ball in the cup, pull back the balloon, let go, and watch your snowball fly!
7. Use your ruler or tape measure to see how far each launch goes. Record your data on the snowball shooter worksheet to turn this into a STEM challenge!
8. Try shooting a cotton ball. Did it go farther than the marshmallow?
Aren’t these paper cup snowman shooters adorable? My kids had so much fun shooting marshmallows and cotton balls. I do want to note that if you have younger kids, they may pull on the balloon too hard, causing it to pop off the cup. You may want to use tape or glue to adhere the balloon to the cup to prevent it from happening.
At first, we followed the worksheet and measured the distance the marshmallows and cotton balls traveled. But of course, things got a little crazy, and before I knew it, the kids were running around the house, shooting cotton balls at each other.
The good news is that cotton balls don’t hurt! It turned out to be the perfect screen-free activity for getting kids moving indoors.
Play Ideas & Learning Extensions
Measure Distances: Who can launch the farthest? Let kids log their results and compare.
STEM Twist: Try different-sized cups or balloons. How does that change the distance?
Target Practice: Set up paper circles as targets and challenge kids to hit them!
Why This Snowman Snowball Shooter Activity Is Great
Fun + Active: Kids stay moving, aiming and launching instead of just sitting.
Hands-On Learning: Teaches basic physics concepts like force, tension, and measurement.
Family & Classroom Friendly: Works for playdates, parties, homeschool, or classroom STEM time.
FOR MORE FUN WINTER STEM ACTIVITIES, CHECK OUT:
What a cute idea! What size paper cups did you use?
I used 8 oz but you can definitely use different size cups!
What size balloons work best? 7in, 9in, 12in?
It depends on the size cup you use. I used the standard 12″ one.
it looks very interesting!!
so i made it today for my students . thank u 💓
oh how wonderful thanks for sharing!
Great idea for Christmas
Would white pom poms or cotton balls work better? Pom Poms are a little heavier, would that not work as well?
Hi! Did you experience any trouble with the balloons sliding off the cups? I saw some DIY launchers online that suggest hot gluing or duct taping the balloon onto the cup, but I’m putting together Take N Make STEM kits and don’t want to have to transport duct tape or assume kids have access to a glue gun at home.
You can certainly tape the balloon to the cup, but we didn’t have issues with the balloons sliding off the cups. I think it depends on the age of the kids; younger kids would probably try and pull the balloon really hard to shoot the marshmallows farther and accidentally pull the balloons off. But older kids shouldn’t have this issue.
cute idea – thanks
This looks like a lot of fun. I will make them for my granddaughters to give out in class. I would appreciate the printable sheet. Thank you!
Did you use regular-sized marshmallows or mini?
We used mini! I think the regular-sized ones would work too.
How do you keep the balloon from crushing and folding the paper cup as you’re trying to put it on?
It helps if you have someone else hold the cup and you use both hands to get the balloon to open up and place it around the cup evenly! Otherwise you might need stronger cups.
This may seem silly, but what size balloon do you get to cover the end of the 9 ounce cup??
Hope to hear back from you. Merry Christmas!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas! I believe we used the standard 12 inch ones!