The boys were standing behind me this morning as I was quickly clicking through my Bloglines subscription and I could hear audible gasps and “Put that back up again!” when I clicked on today’s GeekDad post by Kevin Kelly on Rubber Band Machine Guns. So they were beside themselves when I clicked the post’s link to Backyard Artillery. Kevin’s not familiar with the company and neither am I — are any readers? — but that didn’t stop us from having a great deal of fun admiring their wares.
Related links:
The Courting Danger page here at Farm School, featuring links to the following books, which you really should have on the shelf before contemplating a purchase from Backyard Artillery:
Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices by William Gurstelle
The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery by William Gurstelle
Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior’s Guide to Building Projectile Shooters by William Gurstelle
And this opinion piece from yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, “Why Safe Kids Are Becoming Fat Kids”. Nothing new except for the tidbit that New York kids have a new risk to deal with on hot summer playgrounds — the rubber safety matting installed for their protection gets hot enough to burn tender tootsies. You’d think it would be easier to tell your kid to put on shoes than to hire a lawyer to sue the Parks Department, but I’m the wrong person to ask, since I traded an office with a view of the Empire State Building for the chance to let my kids knock out their loose teeth falling from rope swings (which is what Davy did the other month) and out of trees.
So put on some shoes, kids, build an onager, get some exercise, and tell the secretary to cancel that call to the lawyer!
Filed under: Courting Danger, Fun & Games, Raising Children
As a child, my father snuck a miniature model of a canon out of his house, loaded it and fired a marble clean through the garage door. My kids have been begging to replicate this feat ever since hearing the tale.
I’m betting the library here doesn’t carry any of your book recommendations though I will certainly look!
Thanks for the article recommendation – what a great reminder!
L., your grandparents had a miniature working cannon? Dare I ask whatever became of it?
Alicia, you’re welcome. Speaking of backyards, I love your new blog header photo!
Even beyond the safety fascism, the instinct to sue someone for stuff like that is almost completely incomprehensible to me. I think you are better off out of that world. Unfortunately because of some people’s instinct to sue, insurance for everyone goes up, as does pressure to regulate, and that affects all of us as playgrounds become harder to maintian.
I believe my dad still has it. I’ve been trying to add it to my miniature collection for years. It would look great in the attic or on the front porch of my dollhouse.
: )
Do we love William Gurstelle, or what? One of the very first things that my boys insisted on doing upon our return home was to fire off the potato cannon made with his instructions. It NEVER ceases to thrill.
JoVE, I think it’s a North American mania, hard to escape. You should see the almost perfectly safe, no fun at all new playgrounds that have been installed around here.
L., I think you need to send Elle on a reconnaissance mission. Quite the accessory for dollhouse!
Kris, I was cleaning out the boys’ room yesterday and found this note under the bottom bunk:
“3 Piant Ball Guns
5 Packs of Patato Seeds [I assume he meant seed potatoes]
3 Patato GunS”
And since I’m the one who introduced them to Gurstelle it’s all my fault!