Engineering Tuesday: Balloon Car Races and Solar Oven Inventions

Published Jun 26, 2025

Day two of Camp Imagineers was all about engineering! We started the day with the Balloon Car Challenge, where campers used recycled materials to build their own mini vehicles powered by balloons in order to travel the farthest. As they assembled and tested their designs, they were introduced to concepts like force and friction, which impacted how they made their cars. Each student was invested in friendly competition with each to make the quickest car possible, leading to some pretty exciting races!

Later on, we shifted gears to explore solar ovens. Using cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, and black paper, campers built their own mini ovens designed to capture and retain heat from the sun. We talked about how light absorption and reflection work, and how people around the world use solar energy in their daily lives. Once their ovens were complete, the placed marshmallows inside to test how effectively their designs retained heat. The day ended with some delicious smores (baked in our very own solar ovens!), and for many, the day was their first taste (literally) of seeing engineering in action.