The history of Nerf: A guide to your child’s favourite toy blaster

Nerf has become hugely popular for kids over the years, providing fun toy blasters to play with in various ways! It has kept children of many different generations occupied enjoying play fights with friends and family. The Nerf collection of toys has grown each year, since the beginning of the company’s journey, and continues to grow giving little ones cool and exciting ways to play with others. Their toys encourage kids to socialise with each other and communicate through team play as they battle it out to defeat the opposite team, or the bad guys!

But how did Nerf begin? And just what exactly is Nerf and what do they offer children? Find out all about the history of Nerf in this guide to your child’s favourite toy blaster. Discover how it all started, how it grew into what it is today and vital information about Nerf blasters to help you understand why your child loves them. 

What is Nerf and how was it born? 

Nerf is a toy company that specialises in foam toys, that are great to use to play with others and create realistic play fights. The company was born in 1960 and it all started with a single foam ball. The ball and Nerf was created by the toy maker Parker Brothers and since then, the company has grown massively with lots of different toys to bring fun to kids all over the world. 

It has become one of the most popular toy brands across the world and now revenues annually around $400 million! It is a hugely recognisable brand with the signature slogan “it’s Nerf or nothin’” and transports kids to an imaginative play experience either through a sports activity or an epic play fight. 

To this day, the company offers a wide range of toys from sports equipment and foam balls to Nerf guns and blasters! Little ones can go crazy with a fun-filled action adventure game, get sporty with friends or have leisurely fun to pass the time. Nerf definitely has something for everyone no matter their interests!

When was the first Nerf toy released? 

The first Nerf toy to be released was the foam ball in 1969. This ball was created by Reyn Guyer who came up with the classic and iconic game Twister! Reyn is a true toy genius and developed a soft ball that kids could have fun with indoors. It was marketed as the world’s first official indoor ball. 

Reyn came up with the Nerf ball idea when he and his team where creating a new game. This game was based on cavemen where players had to bounce foam rocks over a net. The foam balls became a huge success so Reyn and his team decided to base lots of different games around them. From this success, he decided to take the concept of the foam ball games to Parker Brothers. 

However, the games didn’t impress Parker Brothers and didn’t make it to market but, the balls did! Parker Brothers wanted to market the balls as the first indoor balls for kids to play with safely inside and outside. They also wanted to encourage kids to play an engaging football game indoors, so they can enjoy the sport no matter the weather. Soon, the foam balls became a huge hit with kids and parents. The soft 4 inch foam ball meant little ones could play with it inside without hurting themselves or breaking anything. It would easily bounce off glass and other hard surfaces without any damages. 

From this super-fun and soft foam ball, many Nerf products were born based on the ball. For example, the fun foam darts used in Nerf guns are based on the original ball! There is also discs and many other toys that are based on the original foam ball as the material works and is very soft, so no one can get hurt. 

The original Nerf ball also extended into different versions with the same concept, such as the uber-popular football, ping pong and pool! 

How did it evolve into Nerf guns? 

In 1989, Nerf decided to drastically change the direction of toys that they offer and took a leap to produce Nerf guns. After two decades of ball games and sports, this change was quite significant. 

Nerf decided to make this shift in an effort to appeal to pretend play fights that have been popular with kids for years. It feels like since the beginning of time little ones have loved to take part in action-packed battles and shoot outs, using anything they can find like sticks to use as a weapon. Nerf also wanted to capture children’s imagination, enhance playability and create a lasting brand that delights people of all ages. They took this step to bring battles and shoot outs to life, making the classic play much more engaging and sparking imaginations easier by giving them a working, safe weapon.

The evolution of Nerf guns

The first Nerf blaster

One of the first Nerf guns was the blast-a-ball that was also invented by Reyn Guyer. This was a cool handheld weapon that could shoot foam balls. This Nerf blaster allowed kids to shoot the balls through an interactive pump-action to battle against the enemy with. It certainly looked very different to the Nerf guns you see today and was essentially a plastic tube that kids load foam balls into. There was a handle at one end to pump air that would shoot the balls out the other end. It could shoot 1.5mm diameter Nerf balls up to 40 feet! This blaster began Nerf’s transition to more exciting foam blasters. 

The blast-a-ball soon was overtook in popularity with the upgraded blast-a-matic. This Nerf blaster could fire several balls at a time before needing to reload! These two Nerf guns were a part of the original Nerf series that were available in many retail stores from 1989 to 1993. 

The Nerf gun that invented the popular darts

In 1992, a short while later from blast-a-ball, the first Nerf gun to shoot darts was invented by Clemens V Hedeen Jr. This was named the Sharpshooter and is seen by many as the first real Nerf gun, as shooting darts became a staple in the future blasters as they represented bullets in a safe way, which brought a realistic element to play fights. Clemens sold this to Kenner (who was a part of Hasbro who now owns Nerf) and sold more to Hasbro later on. 

Other Nerf guns

From these two epic Nerf blaster toys, the company expanded to various different types of blaster. They introduced foam arrow shooters and continued to develop the foam dart guns as these were the most popular. The darts could be launched from blasters with excellent accuracy and wide range. 

They also introduced motorised blasters that were designed to enhance the shooting experience and allowed a rapid-fire action play to bring lots of excitement to battle play! From this, Nerf decided to take their gun design further by creating modular designs. These allowed customisation through various attachments like barrels, stocks and scopes. Kids can create their own unique blaster that encourages them to dive into action play and reflect their personality. 

Nerf and water guns

Later on, Nerf delved into another type of battle play through the popularity of water fights. Kids love to have water fights on a hot day to cool down and battle it out against each other to soak their opponents. Nerf recognised this and created their own water gun that expanded into a whole range of cool, effective and exciting water guns for little ones to play with! 

The first water blaster that Nerf created was done through the genius and creativity of Lonnie Johnson. Lonnie was an engineer in the US Air Force and later at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, so had many challenges where he developed his creativity. In 1982, Lonnie accidentally created the premise for water guns as he was working on an invention for a heat pump. His device started to leak a lot! It wasn’t a dribble of water but it shot out like a jet, which sparked the idea of a super soaker water gun. He quickly got to making a prototype, made from bits of pipe and a soda bottle, and it could shoot water up to 40 feet!

In 1986, he patented the idea as a squirt gun which included a sound generator to make cool futuristic sound effects when shooting. He sold the design to Laramai Toys and they launched it as the Power Drencher in 1990 and rebranded to the Super Soaker in 1991. However, in 1995 Hasbro bought Laramai and continued to sell the Super Soaker and worked with Lonnie on new water toys under Nerf. This was the beginning of Nerf’s water gun journey and expanded through Lonnie and after he parted ways with them too. 

What age are Nerf guns suitable for?

Nerf guns are designed for different age groups, depending on the toy. Nerf have created a blaster for any age so that anyone can enjoy the foam gun fun! 

Nerf has developed some easy-to-use blasters for children aged 3 years and up. These are toddler friendly and have been simplified so that they can enjoy the battle fun easily and independently. The features are more simple so they can navigate the gun safely. They also have soft darts included to keep little ones safe while playing and are super easy for them to handle. If you have a toddler, it is best to look up the 3 years plus Nerf blasters as not all guns are made for them and some are too advanced. 

Nerf have also designed a few of their blasters to suit children aged 6 years plus. Lots of their guns are suitable for 6 year olds as at this age, kids can handle more complex blasters with more basic features. Due to this, Nerf have simplified features so kids can navigate the guns but have made the designs complex and exciting. The best way to identify these Nerf guns is to look for the safety features, like soft-tip darts and clear instructions to show you the age of the blaster.

However, the majority of blasters are recommended for children aged 8 years and up by Nerf. This age range covers a wide range of blasters, especially the guns that include a greater dart capacity, longer firing ranges and more complex features to navigate the blaster. 

Nerf decided to make shooting fun more complex and enjoyable for teenagers and adults too with their rival range. This range of blasters is designed for older children, from the age of 14 years plus. The Nerf guns in the rival collection were made to fire high-impact rounds at higher velocities, making the battle harsher and more difficult to win. This was done to appeal to teenagers and adults to join in the Nerf fun as the smaller, less powerful Nerf guns didn’t excite older kids and adults. 

Before purchasing any Nerf blaster, it is best to consider your child’s skill level, interests and safety to ensure you get the best one for them that suits their needs. 

What franchises have Nerf collaborated with?

Over the years, Nerf has collaborated with several franchises, resulting in unique and super-fun blasters that kids adore!

Vortex footballs

Firstly, Nerf collaborated with Franklin Sports to create the Vortex footballs. These were super soft foam footballs that were designed for safe outdoor use. They provide a safe and new way to play American football and help kids to make killer passes. 

The Vortex footballs brings more distance than ever before to football games and is designed with built-in air holes and a finned tail. This design gives the football a premium aero-dynamic efficiency that allows kids to see and hear the difference as it flies through the air for maximum distance. 

These footballs are perfect for kids of all ages to learn to throw and catch in a safe way and with ease. They are also water resistant so can be used as a pool activity or at the beach! Kids can even play with it indoors, as well as outdoors, due to the super soft foam ensuring that nothing gets broken.

With Franklin Sports, Nerf has also created the Pro Grip and Weather Blitz footballs, as well as the Nerfhoop. 

Nerf featuring in a game

Although this collaboration isn’t to produce fun and innovative toys, the Fortnite game collaborated with Nerf by featuring Nerf themed content in the game. This has been seen as a huge collab with Nerf by fans and helped kids to recognise the brand. It has also allowed kids to know what Nerf is and create a craze where they want to try it out for themselves in real life. This promoted Nerf and drove more fans to the brand. 

Nerfball

Nerf partnered with Donald Driver, a football legend, dance-competition champion and best-selling author, to create their first officially recognised team sport called Nerfball. This is a very exciting sport that combines the thrilling play of paintball and airsoft with the speed and agility of basketball. The game features buzzer-beating shots and amazing highlight moments. 

Nerfball is played with an all new Pro series blaster, an innovative ball and a rule set that will really let you catch a thrill and get your heart racing. The first public Nerfball tournament occurred in the Summer of 2023 and was a great success!

UK Nerf training camps

Nerf collaborated with Haven to launch the first ever UK Nerf training camps. These camps gave kids lots of Nerf fun in engaging activities. Kids are armed with Nerf blasters and safety goggles to play various activities and learn how to use different blasters, practicing accuracy with targets and trying to gain a long shooting range. This exciting collaboration brings the fun of Nerf to kids everywhere, allowing them to enjoy the excitement of Nerf guns while they are on holiday in a safe environment. 

What games have been created to play with Nerf? 

There are lots of different games that have been created to play with Nerf blasters in a unique and exciting way for kids. There are so many that people all over the world have invented games as well as Nerf themselves, so we have chose our favourites to give you inspiration for engaging games to get your child moving and having hours of fun!

Capture the flag

Turn a classic game for kids into a more exciting Nerf-fuelled game that your child will love. It is easy to play but gives little ones thrills, excitement and a lot of strategic planning! It is also great to play as a family and go head to head to see which team wins.

All you need is two teams and the goal is to capture the flag that is in a certain location. Each team is assigned bases where they have to begin the game from. Use Nerf guns to try and stop the opposing team from capturing the flag and hit each player to get them out of the game. Allocate 3 lives to each player and each time they are hit, they lose a life. If they lose all of their lives, they are out of the game.

The first team to capture the flag wins, or the first team to get all of the players out of a team wins. You could make this game even more challenging by making the flag an obscure object, like a coin, and concealing the fact that it’s the flag. Players can solve clues to figure out what object the flag is before they try to capture it. 

Targets game

Nerf have created quite a few different target games that are ready made to practice precision and try to get the highest score. Your child can go head to head with friends and family to see who gets the highest target range and the most points. 

Nerf have amazing soft foam target cans that are ready to use instantly for a target shoot out. They have soft rubber bases so they can sit on any surface without causing damage. Each target has a score meaning and are a great way to create friendly competition when used in team games. 

Alongside this, Nerf has the precision target game that allows kids to gain some serious Nerf target practice. They also have a digital target game and hovering target game to amp up the challenge and try to shoot the objects to gain the highest score.

Nerf gun sight word game

You can combine physical activity with learning by having your child recognise sight words while moving. They can build their word recognition and reading skills while having Nerf fun.

Decide which sight words your child needs to practice, such as words they are struggling with along with some they understand. Use a marker to write each word on a sticky note and stick them onto blocks, plastic cups or even empty boxes. Arrange these into a row and you can stack them up on top of each other to create more word fun. 

Your child can pick a word to read out loud and if they read it correctly, they get to shoot it with a  Nerf blaster to knock it down. If they miss, they can try again later.

For more on how to set this engaging game up and other ideas for this game take a look at the website!

Nerf hide and seek

Take the classic game of hide and seek to the next level with Nerf guns! Divide kids, or the whole family, into two teams and assign one team to be the hiders and the other the seekers. The seekers count to 10 with their eyes closed and while they are counting, the hiders find places to hide away and not be seen. 

After counting, the seekers can go and hunt for the hiders. When they find a hider, they can use their Nerf blaster to tag them. But, the hiders also have a Nerf blaster to do a shoot-out with the seeker to try and not get caught. If a hider shoots a seeker first, the seeker is out. The team with the last player to survive wins. 

Nerf connect 4

Nerf have created an epic game of connect 4, bringing the iconic family friendly game to a whole new level by using Nerf blasters! The connect 4 blast game comes complete with two Nerf guns and 8 foam darts. 

The game requires two players to fire at the coloured discs with the aim of being the first player to hit four discs in a row. So, rather than trying to get a line of 4 of the same colour, kids need to practice their aim by shooting 4 discs to win. 

It is a fast-paced shooting game that helps to improve target skills as it relies on aim to win. Kids will enjoy this new take on a classic game bringing lots of laughs and desperately trying to reload quickly to try and win!

What is the Nerf experience?

The Nerf ActionXperience is based in Trafford, Manchester, and is the most legit place to get your Nerf on. It provides kids and families with challenges and activities to keep you entertained throughout your visit. 

You can have a whole hour to navigate the zones, spending as much time as you like in each zone. The zones are: 

• Sports @ Nerf AX- contains seven individually branded games to compete against each other in a challenge that gets everyone active.
• Training Ground- This zone allows you to hone your targeting skills, improve accuracy and enhance hand-eye coordination.
• Chaos City- Grab your blaster and get ready to battle. Put your fresh skills to the test in an action-packed version of capture the flag.
• Mission X- Two teams can battle it out to take control of a spaceship. Get ready to defend your turf and work as a team to blast to victory.
• Project Stealth- Test out new Nerf games and activities in the special testing bunker. Experience something new for a limited time. You never know what’s behind the doors!

Find out more about the amazing Nerf experience on their website and book your visit for the ultimate Nerf experience that the whole family will love.

Nerf is a hugely popular brand for all things sports and battle play, capturing children’s imagination all over the world. They continue to grow and expand their popular Nerf guns to appeal to new generations of kids, so everyone can experience the Nerf buzz! 

Try out some of the super fun Nerf games with your family and bring the battles to life! Find the right Nerf blaster for your child to up their imaginative play experience with friends and family and have shooting entertainment for hours on end.