STEAM Fair 2020 Activity
Thanks to Severn School
Make your own hovercraft with just a few household materials! This balloon-powered toy will give a new meaning to “zoom.” As air flows out of the balloon, it’ll start to hover! Try giving it a push and watch it slide around. You can even pass it across the table with your family and keep blowing the balloon up for endless fun!
What you need:
- balloon
- cds
- pop-up bottle cap
- hot glue
Adult supervision needed when working with hot glue.
Video:
How to make a Balloon Hovercraft
- Gather materials
Collect all the material you need and get the hot glue ready
- Attach bottle cap to CD
Glue the mouth of the bottle cap onto the middle of the CD
- Attach balloon to cap
Once the glue has dried, stretch the balloon over the cap.
- Inflate Balloon
Inflate the balloon by blowing into the hole on the other side of the CD. Close the nozzle once you are done. OR if you have trouble with this, try step 5.
- Inflate Balloon alternate step
Take off the balloon and close the cap nozzle. Using your mouth, Inflate the balloon to your desired size, then pinch the base about 1 inch above the tip and stretch it over the bottle cap.
- Test out the hovercraft
Set the hovercraft down on a flat, smooth surface. Twist or pull the nozzle cap open without removing the balloon. As air flows out of the balloon, it’ll start to hover! Try giving it a push and watch it slide around.
How does it work?
The cushion of air reduces the friction between the CD and the tabletop, allowing your hovercraft to fly, just like the puck on an air hockey table.
Observe:
You will notice as the air runs out, the hovercraft slows! This is because of friction.
