Owning your very own Hovercraft does not have to be a dream for the future. With a few simple items, you and your child can make one right now!
Hovercraft
What you will need:
- A Styrofoam plate or bowl
- Pen
- Balloon
- Tape
- Decorations for your Hovercraft
Our mean, green, hovering machine
How to make your very own vehicle of the future:
- Poke a hole in the center of the Styrofoam plate or bowl with the pen. Make sure the hole is a little bigger than the tip of the pen.
- Decorate the Styrofoam plate or bowl to look like the Hovercraft of your dreams!
- Blow up a balloon and clench its opening shut without knotting the end, so the air does not escape. Keep using a hand to close off the balloon.
- While you continue to clench shut the balloon, have the other person or your other hand tape the very mouth of the balloon flush around the hole in your plate or bowl. Place about four pieces of tape in the shape of a square over the balloon’s opening and the Styrofoam to secure it. Keep holding the bottom of the balloon to keep the air in.
- To support the weight of the balloon, take four long pieces of tape and attach them from the sides of the balloon to the Styrofoam, while continuing to clench off the balloon’s air. It should look like a hot air balloon tied down to the ground before take-off.
- Place your Hovercraft on a smooth, flat area, where it will have lots of room to hover around. When you are ready, stop clenching the opening of the balloon and watch your Hovercraft take off!
Want to know how your amazing Hovercraft works?
When the air flows out of the balloon, it goes under the Styrofoam and creates a layer of air space that keeps the Hovercraft and the smooth, flat surface from rubbing against each other. Without the rubbing, there is no friction, which causes an object to slow down when moving or to hold in place. Therefore, the air layer from the balloon creates a buffer, allowing your Hovercraft to glide across the surface, free from the friction that would have held it in place!
That Hovercraft is ready to take off!
Get Hovercrafts in every home on the block!
Filed under: Just for Fun! | Tagged: crafts, experiments, fighting boredom, learning, science
Hovercraft looks fun and easy. Maybe I can muster up enough brain power to help the dudes make this one. Not getting my hopes up yet, that taping business sounded pretty involved, but I’m considering it!
I think it would be great if we could share our rides with the people on our buddy list
So after blowing up the ballon, going through an elaborate taping process, then (if there is still any air left in the ballon) you let go and the air comes out in 3 seconds and you throw it away?
I recommend just pushing the lip of the balloon through the hole (before blowing it up). Forget the tape. Just pull the balloon through a little bit and blow it up. When you let go, if the hole is not too big, the lip of the balloon keeps the balloon attached and you can use it over and over again! If more support of the balloon is needed, pipe cleaners could be used. (Looks like that is what they used in the photo)
Night Owl…
I like your suggestion and would bear to guess that that is exactly what is done in the photo. Why they didn’t give instructions to do it that way makes no sense to me.
Especially since it looks to me like in their photo they didn’t use the “tape” to support the weight of the balloon… and I think that IS the purpose of the pipe cleaners. [ I couldn't see tape anywhere in that photo - even when I enlarged it.]
Regardless, it’s a neat little activity.
Hi Night Owl and 1Mom – thanks so much for stopping by! The suggestion to push the balloon through the hole sounds great – we’ll definitely have to give that a try. In the photos you see, the pipe cleaners are actually just decorative – this particular balloon was too big to be supported just by them, though that seems like it would work with a larger, more stable bowl. However, you are correct, the support tape is actually not shown in these pictures – we were having trouble getting a good photo of it. We’re going to give it another try and see if we can’t add a photo tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback and good luck with your hovercrafts!
tried this with my cubscouts, we had a hover race. I found that if you have a large enough balloon (and a plate instead of a bowl for more balance), you can push the mouth through the little opening first and then blow it up… the lip should keep it from going through, but just in case, we actually used a loose twist tie under the paper plate around the mouth, which kept the mouth from going through and also, if tightened a little, allowed the air to come out a bit more slowly. we didn’t use the tape on the sides, but after seeing the way they went (some went all over, some toppled because the balloon moves when the air comes out), I could see where it would come in handy. In any case, it was fun and frankly, I think the cubs just liked the sound of the air coming out of the balloons.
We went ahead and retook the second picture of our Hovercraft. It is fully emblazoned with supportive tape, as we suggested, offering you all a visual of how ours turned out. Click to enlarge the photo and really scope it out!