I work as an aged care nurse and I am also the activities officer when she goes on holiday.  I made this target shooting game for the residents in our aged care home. Last time I filled this position I took some targets and Nerf guns in and they loved the idea.  The one issue I did have with the game was that the resident struggled to load the Nerf guns.  For this target shooting game, I came up with an easy solution to shoot the balls.

How to build a target shooting game

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Make the target base

To make the base I used a recycled MDF tabletop. The felt I purchased from the budget store along with the Velcro tape.  You can also buy cheap ping pong balls from your local budget store. This was my second attempt at this project, my first was a total failure. What I learnt from my first fail was not all felt is equal.  My velcro tape did not stick very well to the first felt I bought.  For the second attempt, I took the Velcro I was going to be using and tested it on the felt in the store to make sure it attached properly before I bought it.

On my first attempt, the next issue I had was when the balls were shot at the target, they bounced back off because of the force of the ball hitting the wood.  My solution to this was to put some recycled foam on the board first. I lay my board on the foam and used a pencil to mark out the circle, and I used scissors to cut the foam to size.

I was unable to find large pieces of felt, so I bought the A4 size and sewed them all together using a zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine.  On the first round, I just glued all the felt on and I found that every time I pulled the balls off the target the felt started to lift.  So, it does work but it will not last very long.

I used an old offcut from a black sheet to keep the foam in place, but make sure you do not pull it too tight, or it will cause resistance for the balls. The sheet was stapled to the back of the board.

Making the rings of the target

For my circles, I used my large compass and cut out a template using kraft paper first.  I folded the cardboard in half on my folded felt and cut out all my circles.  I used the same cardboard for each circle I just made them smaller each time.  Keep the offcuts because they become handy later on.

Glueing the rings to the target

Next, I centred my first circle and used pins to mark where the spray adhesive would be applied.  In the case of this project, less is more for the spray adhesive. I sprayed a thin layer of adhesive on both sides and waited until they were tacky before I put them together.

The offcuts of kraft paper came in hand for this step. You positioned the cardboard where you want it to be and added some pins to keep the cardboard in place. This will mark out the area where you must spray the adhesive.  I used the offcuts around the pins to prevent any overspray of adhesive.  It is very important to make sure all your edges are sprayed to prevent lifting later.

Even though I used spray adhesive, If I had to make a new shooting game, I would sew them all together rather than using the glue.  The reason I am saying this is because it is very easy to use too much spray adhesive which makes the felt go hard.  This did happen to me in some places.  So, I would highly recommend sewing them all.

This step was repeated until all the circles were applied.

Adding the target value numbers

To add numbers to the target I bought some felt numbers and glued them to the target.  On my first attempt, I used foam numbers because I had some leftover from a previous project but the ball bounced off them.

I added some tacks to the edges of the target to make it look more professional because it was for work.

To hang my target, I used some very thick fishing line that was folded multiple times and stapled it to the back with a Staple Gun.

Seal the back

To tidy up the back I cut a circle of kraft paper and stapled it to the back cutting a slot where the fishing line is so it can be pulled through.

How to make the target shooting gun

To make my “gun” I used an old plastic cup that I had in the cupboard and cut off the bottom.  You need to use a hard plastic cup, because after a while the cheap cups get squashed because they get held to tight. To cut my cup I used my benchtop sander and I just held it on the sandpaper until it had sanded off the bottom.  This was the easiest and quickest way for me. I removed any rough edges by hand.  You must have a smooth finish, or the balloons will rip when added.

A balloon is needed for the end of the cup.  You tie a knot at the end of the balloon and cut off the top of the balloon.  Next, you stretch the balloon over the base of the cup. To fire the ball at the target you load a ball into the cup and point it at the target. With your free hand, you pull back the balloon and then release it.  The force of the knots hitting the ball will send it flying over to the target.

Making the target shooting balls

To make my Velcro balls I bought Velcro tape and cut the strips in half.  You add the first strip around the whole ball and then fill in the smaller gaps with Velcro.  My Velcro was not an expensive brand just one you buy from a budget store.  

I made 6 balls for my game; you can decide for yourself how many to make.  Make sure your Velcro is just on the ball and not overlapping or it will lift.  I had to go back and trim mine.

Fluff up the felt

As I mentioned before if you add too much spray adhesive the fibres in the felt will be glued together preventing the balls from sticking well.  I only found this issue after I had completed my target and felt I had gone too far to start again.  To fix this problem I wrapped some Velcro around my hand and loosened the fibres again.  It did make my board go a bit fluffy but lots of use over time will cause the same look.

How to play the game

To play the game, each resident has 6 attempts to hit the target and the score is added up. The person with the highest score wins a prize.

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