It brings new meaning to the phrase “burn, baby, burn.”
Fun-loving Canadian dad Daniel Hashimoto successfully converted a household leaf blower into a flamethrower that his children use to “scorch” around their backyard.
James, 11, and Sophia, 7, have declared it “the best toy ever” in a disarming video that’s now incinerating the internet.
“To the children, it was not a deadly weapon, but more a dynamic and giggle-inducing obstacle,” their father Hashimoto, a 39-year-old animation worker from Prince Edward Island, told South West News Service. “They had a friend over to play on the patio, and we decided to let them have some supervised play with this electric leaf blower.”
Relax already: The DIY device might look diabolical — but the burst of flame is actually a very harmless blaze of flame-colored silk fabric.
Hashimoto’s rationale? He and his wife Mandy Richardville, 41, are “hoping to inspire creativity for the kids.”
“So far, it’s paid off!” he said.
The only reason Hashimoto isn’t catching heat for endangering his two tots is because his flamethrower only expels strips of silk colored to look like realistic fire.
“We decided to see how the lightweight fabric might play with the blower, so Sophia grabbed a large rubber band and some tape, and we affixed it to the nozzle,” Hashimoto said. “The result was even more spectacular than we imagined — large billowing waves looked remarkably like flames — and so the device immediately was dubbed ‘the flame thrower.’ “
Now, the kids play games like “flame tag” or jump rope over the embers — they even reenact scenes similar to the Nickelodeon show “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
“The children all took turns chasing each other in a game of ‘Flame Tag.’ We also played a jump-rope-over-the-flames game, and the children acted out a ‘fire bending’ play,” Hashimoto said.
Hashimoto used his leaf blower with the children, the patriarch of pyro, even before the landscaping faux-torch was created.
“We hovered ping-pong balls, did slow-motion videos of our hair blowing in the wind, tried inflating a fitted sheet like a big marshmallow, and finally the flame thrower . . . When you’re a kid, play time is epic! You can imagine larger-than-life scenarios.”
Hashimoto believes that children will benefit from this creativity beyond hosting the best playdates and being the dad of the year.
“I believe that most children can turn this kind of imagination into being good at improvising, and dealing with challenges,” he said. “We definitely want to encourage imaginative play, creative problem solving and inventing a fun new game out of what’s lying around.”
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