Ode to the Stomp Rocket

Eli asked for a rocket for Christmas. He was not let down.

I had a faint memory of someone playing with this "stomp rocket" toy while we were at a residency retreat on Mount Lemon four years ago. (Sometimes I think I'm an elephant I remember random things so well.) I looked it up and discovered that it is a real toy and not too expensive either (bonus).

This amazing, stupendous, spectacular rocket toy requires zero (yup, zero) batteries. It is safe (the rockets are foam) to use around little ones and by little ones. And it is (am I being redundant?) AMAZING.

Here we have Eli demonstrating how to use this great rocket toy:

First (after mom sets up the yellow stand) you put a foam rocket onto the blue tube. In this picture the rocket is pointed up, but it can be pointed in any direction.

Next you run up to the red block that is a plastic box full of air.

Then you jump on the red box. This pushes air through the blue tube and thus pushes the rocket off of the blue tube.

Now you watch in amazement as the rocket flies up into the air.

A funny side note: My 15 month old is scared of this amazing rocket toy. It is quite humorous.