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How to Build & Launch Homemade Bottle Rockets

Homemade bottle rockets are a fun family activity for the holidays, for science fairs or to teach your kids about Newton's laws of physics. Recycle two-liter soda bottles and make a craft that will give your kids hours of fun. You can craft a bottle rocket in a couple of hours with household items. With the help of a bicycle pump, you can get your rocket to shoot several meters into the air.

Things You'll Need

2-liter plastic soda bottle
3 sheets of poster board
Scissors
Low-temperature glue gun
Modeling clay
Colored markers
Paint
Paintbrush
Duct tape
Straw
Rubber stopper the same diameter as the bottle neck
Drill with a drill bit the same size as your pump needle
Bicycle tire pump
Needle for pumping up balls
1/4-inch diameter metal rod

Instructions

- 1
  Clean your 2-liter bottle and remove the cap. The upside down bottle will be the base of your rocket.
- 2
  Use one sheet of poster board to wrap around the body of the bottle and glue with a glue gun. This will form the body of the rocket. Don't cover the neck and opening of the bottle.
- 3
  Cut four fins from the second piece of poster board and glue them around the body of the rocket, near the bottle neck.
- 4
  Roll the third piece of poster board into a cone. Cut the bottom edge straight. Press a 3 ounce ball of clay into the inside of the cone tip. Glue the cone onto the bottom of the bottle. Paint your rocket.
- 5
  Tape the straw onto the side of your rocket. Drill a thin hole into the rubber stopper. The pump needle should fit snugly inside the hole.
- 6
  Fill the bottle with water. It can be as little as 1/4 full, or as much as 3/4 full. Experiment with water levels to see which ones work best with your rocket design. Place the needle into the hole and the stopper into the bottle top.
- 7
  Stick the metal rod into the ground at a 45 degree angle. Thread the straw over the rod. Connect the bicycle pump to the needle and start pumping. When pressure gets too much inside the bottle, the stopper will shoot off and the rocket will fly up into the air.

Construction Toys