Make a Paper Blowgun

Blowguns can be made from a variety of materials: bamboo, plastic, or even metal. These items can be hard to come by in the right size or shape, especially if you need one quickly for a classroom or office prank. Luckily, it is very easy to make a quick blowgun using a piece of paper and some tape.

Steps

Making the Blowgun

1. Get a sheet of printer paper. Something that is around 8½ by 11 inches (21.59 by 27.94 centimeters) would be ideal, but you can use any sort of rectangular paper.
   • For a more interesting blowgun, use a bright, fun color.
   • If you want to be stealthy, use a neutral color, such as white, black, grey, tan, or army green.
2. Roll the paper, lengthwise, into a thin tube. The tube should be about the width of your finger. You can also roll the paper around a pen, pencil, or dowel. If you do this, be sure to slide it out when you are done.
3. Wrap a piece of tape around the middle and both ends of the paper tube. Plain scotch tape will do for this, but you can also use colored washi tape to make your blow gun look more interesting.
4. Add more tape between those first three pieces of tape. You don't have to wrap the tape around the tube this time. Just place short strips of tape between the middle and end pieces of tape. This will hold the flaps down.
5. Wrap extra tape around the end that you will be putting your mouth on. This will protect the paper and keep it from getting ruined. Wrap a piece of tape around the end of the tube so that the tape is sticking out slightly. Tuck the tape back into the tube, and press it against the walls. If your tube is very small, you may have to use a pen or pencil to do this.

Making the Darts

1. Cut several rectangles out of plain paper. The rectangles need to be about 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) wide and 2 to 3 inches (5.08 to 7.62 centimeters) long. Each piece of paper will make one dart. You can make as many darts as you want.
2. Wrap the rectangle into a tight cone, starting from the upper left hand side. You can use a sharpened pencil to help curve the paper as you go. Don't worry if the dart looks like it will be too wide at the end. You will fix that in a moment.
3. Wrap a piece of tape around the cone to hold it together. Use clear tape for this, so that you can see the paper. This is your dart.
4. Place the tip of the dart into the end of the blowgun. Do not force the dart into the dart. If it falls through the blowgun easily, you are ready to go. If it won't fit all the way into the blowgun, make a mark on the dart where the blowgun touches it. You can use a pen or pencil to do this.
5. Pull the dart out of the blowgun and trim it down, if needed. If the dart fell through the blowgun, then you can skip this step. If the dart was too big and you had to make a mark, simply cut the dart in half using the mark as a guide.
   • Your dart may start to come undone after you cut it. If that happens, simply wrap more tape around it.
6. Add a toothpick, but only if you plan on being responsible. Paper darts can hurt if you fire them at someone. Toothpick darts will hurt even more. Never fire toothpick darts at another person or animal. You can fire them at balloons and other targets, however. Here is what you need to do:
   • Trim the tip of the dart until you get a hole big enough for you to slide a toothpick into.
   • Push a toothpick into the hole until about ½ inch (1.27 centimeters) is sticking out.
   • Wrap some tape around the tip of the dart to hold the toothpick in place.
   • Cut or break off any extra toothpick that is sticking out of the open/wider end of the dart.
7. Use the blowgun. Push the dart into the mouth part of the blowgun, pointy part first. Hold the blowgun up to your lips, and point it at your target. Give the blowgun a sharp, quick blow.

Tips

• Magazine paper is very useful for sharp ones.
• Crumpled up paper makes good ammo if you don't want to make a dart.
• Shoot your darts at balloons, paper cups, and targets made out of Styrofoam disks.
• Use brightly-colored paper to make your darts so that you don't loose them.

Warnings

• Never fire your darts at another person or animal, especially if they are made out of toothpicks. It may seem funny and harmless, but they can really hurt someone.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Pen or pencil
• Tape
• Toothpick (optional)

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Blowgun and Darts with Shoelaces and a Pen

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