Have you ever thought about going cow tipping with kids? There may be a few of you out there, but I’m sure for many of you the answer was, “No.” While you may not have considered cow tipping, perhaps you will take me up on my invitation to take your kids cow flipping. Cow flipping is an activity my husband and I came up with to show you how to make snacking fun for kids. I’m going to demonstrate how to make a cow catapult using Popsicle sticks and rubber bands with a picture and video tutorial. I’d love for you to check out the video because at the end of the creation process, you get to see the fun my kids had flipping their cows into the “mud.”
We love to foster creative and imaginative play in our home. This happens naturally all the time. I can’t tell you how many times my chairs have been turned into a ship or our bed has become a swimming pool. Kids are natural creators. That said, it’s fun to become a part of the action and stimulate activities that promote more creative play. Can this happen during snack time? Absolutely. You just can’t be afraid to let kids play with their food. This kind of play is too much fun to pass up and also inspires them to try new foods.
This was our first time trying Horizon Organic crackers and snack products. I use their milk, Macaroni and Cheese and other dairy products, but now I’ve been turned on to their snacking line. My kids all loved these crackers and cookies, which is rare to find in my home. Even my pickiest eater sat there and gobbled up every component of this snacking experience. It’s always a hallelujah moment for me when I find a food item all the kids enjoy.
Materials Needed to Make a Cow Catapult
- 4 Rubber Bands
- 10 Jumbo Popsicle Sticks
- Optional Items for Decorating: Washi Tape, Paint, Marker, Stickers, Sharpies
- Hot Glue Gun
- Lid to a Milk Container or other such lid
- Horizon Snack Grahams (Available in Chocolate, Cinnamon or Honey)
- Horizon Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers (Also available in cheddar)
- Peanut Butter
- Chocolate Syrup
How to Make a Cow Catapult out of Popsicle Sticks
- Write “Cow Flipper” on a popsicle stick with Sharpie.
- Hot glue a milk jug lid or alternative lid on the end of the jumbo popsicle stick.
- Rubber band the two popsicle sticks together on the opposite end from the lid.
- Stack together 8 popsicle sticks, and rubber band the two ends together.
- Slide your cow flipper piece onto the rubber banded popsicle sticks, centering the flipper.
- Attach the pieces together by rubber banding in a criss cross fashion.
- Your device is now ready to flip some cows. Be prepared for fun!
How to Make an Edible Mud Pit
A component of this activity is my edible mud pit. I thought it would be fun to create a story behind this snacking fun. Therefore, we made a “mud” pit and fenced it in using Horizon Organic Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies. I told the kids all of the cows had escaped, and we had to be the cow flippers with our DIY popsicle stick catapult. The goal was to corral all of the escaped cows. Keeping everything edible and giving the cows a nice place to land was the key. The chocolate syrup was added for appeal, to thin out the peanut butter and to make the consistency more mud-like.
- Combine enough peanut butter and chocolate syrup to fill a small plate. Stir the chocolate syrup and peanut butter together and spread to the edges of the plate.
- Place peanut butter sandwich crackers around the edge to create the corral.
- Gather together the escaped cows so you can begin cow tipping…I mean flipping with your kids.
Here’s our quick and fun video that will not only show you how easy it is to make your own cow catapult, but it also shows the fun to be had with your kids as the try and corral all the cattle.
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I’d like to point out the cow flipping popsicle stick catapults can be decorated in a variety of ways. You can buy the pre-colored Popsicle sticks to make it easy. Two of my kids decided to decorate their catapults using Washi tape. You can also beautify using paint, markers, or stickers. It’s a engaging way to make your cow flipper personalized. Everyone will definitely want their own catapult creations.
I hope you have a lot of fun cow flipping with your kids. After all the cow flipping is complete, it’s time to enjoy the snacking experience.
To keep in the loops about Horizon Organic products as well as ideas for creative activities with kids, I encourage you to follow Horizon on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.
