how to make a paper bow and arrows

Learn how to make paper bows. This simple craft requires few supplies. Your kids will love using their own origami bows! For our Disney-themed activity today, I decided to throw caution and let my daughter watch a Disney movie. regrets my decision because she chose Brave. It’s not that I don’t like Brave – in fact, I like how strong and capable Merida is. She reminds me of my daughter! However, without too many craft ideas that I can think of regarding Brave, I suggested that we make a bear mask. No. It should be about the princess, not the mother or the brothers. Why can’t we do another Frozen day? So guess what we did? Merida’s bow and arrow! To the delight of my son (who grumbled when he heard that we were doing a princess project today), the little bow we made out of paper worked so well that arrows could fly all the way around. room! Read more: minecraft how to grow grass Continue reading to see what else we shot with our paper bows.

How to make bow and arrow out of paper

Contents

Material:

3 sheets of construction paper
Ice
Rubber band
Skewers (for arrows)
Optional: Straws

Guide:

Take a piece of paper to build a rectangle and fold it as shown.

Use the edge as a guide to cut out the bottom rectangle.

Expand the triangle. You should now have a square with a diagonal fold in it.

Paper Bows and Arrows Square Construction Paper

Rotate the square so you have a rhombus.

Start folding at the bottom corner and continue folding until you have folded the entire sheet of paper. Try to keep the folds as small as possible so you’ll end up with a narrow stick.

Paper supplies and construction paper folding arrows

Glue the loose end of the paper down.

Repeat #1-6 with the other two pieces of construction paper.

Paper Bows and Arrows Building Paper Sticks

Take 2 of the sticks and cut about 1 inch at each end.

Stack the two sticks together about 2 inches and glue the two sticks together.

Bend the sticks slightly at the ends of the overlap.

Take one end of the stick and cut a small incision in the middle.

Repeat #11 with the other end.

Cut the elastic so you now have a long rope.

Glue one end of the elastic through one of the slots and attach it to the stick.

Paper bow and arrow with rubber band attachment

Repeat #14 with the other end.

Take the remaining stick and cut it just slightly longer than the overlap of the other two sticks.

Tape the other two ends of the stick to the other two. This is essentially straightening the bowstring a bit so that the rubber band is taut.

Using the skewer as your arrow, pull back the elastic and shoot!

Optional: Cut about 1 inch of straw and glue it to the arrow. You can poke a skewer through it and use it as an arrow rest. This is

Optional: Cut a small piece of construction paper and wrap it around the elastic where you will place the end of the arrow. Tape it so it stays in place.

I want to explain steps #18 and #19 in the tutorial. You don’t need to do those steps for older children as they can easily pull the arrow back with the elastic in the back. They can also use the hand holding the bow as an arrowhead by placing a finger underneath the arrow. However, for kids as young as my daughter, she can’t hold a straight arrow. She also had trouble pulling the elastic so it was behind the arrow. So I used a straw as an arrow guide for her and used a piece of construction paper to help her pull the arrow back with an elastic in the back. Are you surprised by this paper archery ability? When my kids first shot it, the skewer flew straight across the room. Then at one point, my son shot in the wall and the skewer got stuck in the wall. Oi.Warning: Please supervise your child carefully. As you can see from the video, paper bows can actually shoot with enough force to send bubbles flying and through foam boards. Read more: how to fix pixel format not speeding up windows 10 That is to say, you don’t need to use skewers for arrows. We’ve found they work great, but they have sharp and pointed tips that can be dangerous. You can try using disposable wooden chopsticks as arrows or maybe even make an extra paper stick. While you still shouldn’t take your eyes off your kids when they shoot anything with that much force, at least chopsticks or other sticks don’t have sharp ends.

How to play with DIY bows and arrows for kids

Here are some fun ideas for playing with paper bows.

Shot in the eye of a bull (explain yourself).
Shoot at stacked cups. Using small red cups, we line them up high in a triangle. We then try to shoot at stacked cups to see who can take down the most in one shot.
Shoot at the balloons. My kids absolutely love this. We blow up water balloons and stick them to a foam board. Then we shoot at the balloons! Whoever drops the most balloons wins. This is like the carnival game you play with darts, except bows and arrows are even more fun!
Shoot at the filled water balloon. My son wants to do this so badly but I don’t have all the documents for him. Similar to shooting at balloons, you’ll want to fill the balloons with water instead of air. Then fix it to a table.

Clicking on the balloons won’t work because the water makes the balloons quite heavy, so you may have to nail them to the board. I don’t have a wooden board to nail so the kids just had to wait another day for this one. My daughter had fun posing as Merida in Brave with her paper bow. My son is very happy with a good shooting bow. Overall, a successful Disney themed day! YOU MAY LIKE: Read more: how to grow a mustache fu manchu