Cheap styrofoam toy-store boomerangs have given generations of Americans, children or otherwise, the mistaken impression that building and throwing boomerangs is very difficult. This flies in the face of reason: Using less-than-ideal materials, human beings have been building, throwing, and catching boomerangs for more than 11,600 years. Boomerangs are absurdly easy to make--this is an ideal project to keep kids busy in a pinch. Learning to throw one is just a little tricky, but most of the trick is in properly tuning the boomerang. The easiest boomerangs for beginners to craft and throw are quad-bladers. Project 18 from my book, Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred includes two quad-blade designs. The first is a poster-board fast-catch boomerang. Fast-catch boomerangs usually have more than three wings and are characterized by a tight flight pattern and quick return. This boomerang can be made from an old cereal box, beer cartons, or similarly stiff poster-board. It's ideal for indoor boomeranging, and also good for juggling (catching and tossing two boomerangs in sequence so that one is aloft at all times). The second design is a slightly heartier cross-stick boomerang, made from light corrugated cardboard (i.e., a pizza box) and suitable for outdoor use. Cross-sticks, as the name suggests, are made from two separate wings connected at the hub, rather than being cut from a single piece.
Either boomerang just takes a few minutes to make; more importantly, the downloadable project includes clear, detailed instructions on tuning and throwing the boomerangs.
1) Download the free project: Project 18: Cardboard Boomerangs
2) Make the crafting go even faster with these downloadable print-n-trace boomerang templates.
3) Questions? Get help online at the Snip, Burn, Solder Blog
4) If you like this project, then check out my book Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids http://nostarch.com/snipburn.htm Order directly from the publisher using the coupon code “SHRED”, and you’ll save 35 percent--plus they throw in the ebook editions for FREE (take that, Amazon!)
DAVID ERIK NELSON is the author of Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids. You can find his book in many actual bookstores, order online from Amazon (where it’s on backorder), or get a copy immediately from the publisher (No Starch Press: http://nostarch.com/snipburn.htm)--where you can use the coupon code “SHRED,” save 35%, and get the ebook editions for FREE!
The Kindle edition of his Nebula-nominated novella Tucker Teaches the Clockies to Copulate is now available for immediate purchase and download at Amazon.com
Find David online at davideriknelson.com, or as @SquiDaveo on Twitter.
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