How to Make Cheap Bows and Arrows, or, A Very Good Christmas

I mentioned in a Previous post that my older two boys wanted stuff to make bows and arrows. Well here is how to with price list:

• 10 feet PVC pipe, $1.79


• 3/8 inch, 3 feet long dowel rods, $0.26 each


• Duck Tape, $1.47


• Pair of 45 inch shoe strings $0.87


• Time spent in the garage with my boys on Christmas, Priceless.

Cut the PVC into 4 foot long sections. They could be longer for older boys, or the extra 2 feet can be used to make a sword (for another post). On one side, saw a 1/4 inch notch straight down into each end of the pipe. Tie a good sized knot on each end of the shoe string. Hook the string in one notch, and bend the pipe to get the other knot into the other notch.

The dowel rods we cut in half for 18 inch long arrows. The duck (duct) tape can be used to tape around the bow where the hand goes, and to make "feathers" on the end of the arrows.

If I had a digital camera I would post pictures. I'll see if I can't borrow one in the next few weeks. I have to admit I did not come up with this idea, a friend of the boys does amazing things with duck tape, and also weapons creation from scraps. Speaking of which, if you go around to construction sites, you can probably score plenty of scraps for various projects. Just be sure to ask. Most of time they are glad to have someone haul stuff off for them.