If you think of play as "the work of children" (Whitebread, Basilio, Kuvalja & Verma, 2012) then toys are surely the "tools of their trade". The involvement of scientific principles in how they work makes certain toys ideal stimuli for science investigations. This article describes a practical investigation suitable for young children to help them understand some of the factors that influence how things move. The activity involves exploring a readily available toy: the Parachute Launcher.