Straw Rocket

Make this rocket quickly and easily out of drinking straws. Then blast it high into the air using air pressure. Fun and completely safe!

Suitable for kids aged 5+ with parental supervision.

You Need:
  • A drinking straw (preferably one that bends near the end)
  • Half a wider drinking straw (with a large enough diameter to slide easily over the other straw) Note: you can always make one of these out of paper
  • Masking tape
What to do:
  1. Pinch one end of the wide half-straw and stick a piece of masking tape over it, to seal the end closed. This is your straw rocket.
  2. Slide your rocket straw over the straight end of the full-sized straw. This narrow full-sized straw is the rockets launching pad.
  3. Put the launching pad straw in your mouth, and blow hard. Watch your rocket straw blast off high into the air!
  4. You might like try taping various paper shapes (triangles, squares etc.) or fins to different sections of the rocket and see the effect they have on flight. Does a shorter straw rocket fly better than a longer one? Who can blast their rocket the furthest? Who has the best aim?

Why is it so?

This is a classic example of Newtons Third Law of motion in action. According to Newton, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. As you blow, air is forced through the launching-pad straw and pushes against sealed rocket-straw at the end. The resulting force causes the rocket-straw to blast high into the air. So much fun!