Noah, about 3 years old, innovated the chocolate sauce egg launcher. I’m unsure whether inspiration or serendipity led to the invention, but either way, it changed the course of world history that morning in our family child care program. Noah was goofing around with loose parts, a favorite pastime. Out of the blue, he set half a plastic Easter egg on top of an empty chocolate sauce container, like the one pictured above, and gave the container a quick, firm squeeze.

The egg half shot into the air, almost hitting the ceiling. Noah’s eyes bugged out, and a smile flashed across his face. Grabbing a fresh egg half, he did it again. Then again. Then again–this time hitting the ceiling. The other kids gazed in amazement. “Can I try?” “How’d you do that?” “Can you show me to do it?” “How’s that work?” “What makes the egg fly?”

Tasha, my wife and an all-time great reader-of-moments, headed to her basement supply room and was back in a flash with more containers and eggs so everyone could have a chocolate sauce egg launcher.

Eggs flew through the air with but a squeeze and rained to the floor, landing with ease. The room buzzed with happy activity and conversation.

Chocolate sauce egg launcher play consumed the rest of the morning and was something many kids returned to repeatedly. They, of course, tried variations: different containers and different projectiles.

Innovative Chocolate Sauce Egg Launcher Wrap Up

I loved this idea so much that I included it in one of my books. This play sighting highlights the value of combining loose parts with child-led play and exploration. Noah was a very curious child, interested in what things were made of, how they were put together, and how they worked. That curiosity stuck with him into his school years.

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