Squirt a small amount of water from the wash battle into the cannon, load the cannon with the tiny spoon of Calcium Carbide and fire the cannon with a hand held Tesla coil.
Alternatively, try this with a small carbide cannon attached to a Pasco dynamics cart. The cannon is charged with carbide after a stopper bonded to a ball is placed in the mouth of the cannon. When fired, the cannon propels the ball forward, and the reaction sends the cart backward