Attach and football to the spring-loaded gun and shoot the football as far as you can. The spring compresses to store potential energy and locks into place. When ready, the trigger can be pulled to shoot the football into the air. Children ages 8 and up can use this to play catch, or can play around with different spring compressions and angles to learn kinematics and see what combination results in the largest distance.

This toy will be cheap to make, since all that is required is a football, cheap plastic, and a spring. Choosing a stiff enough spring so it doesn't deform with continued use is the most critical part of making this toy. The football will be foam, so there is little safety hazard in playing with this toy.