Ok time for some science! Most of my youth was spent (or miss-spent depending on your perspective) burning or blowing stuff up. It must be a boy thing, almost like a right of passage, who knows.
Anyway, a good friend of mine who is now lecturing as a Dr of Chemical Engineering in a well known English university, made a jet engine once from an old tin can, a computer fan and a bottle of lighter gas. Ahh them were the days.
Although that is quite a complex way of creating something, to relieve the inner geek wanting to get out you can create your own jet engine experiment from paper! Check out the video below, and amaze your geeky friends! 
Oh and make sure you really take the time to appeciate this guys hand gestur
