balloon-powered boat

Don’t throw out that empty milk carton! Use it to make a toy boat that can move throught the water with your own homemade turbo engine. Air seeping out of a balloon can power a boat through water. Make this boat and watch it zoom.

To make a balloon-powered boat you need:

  • a balloon
  • an empty milk carton
  • a paperclip
  • scissors


  1. Cut off one side of the milk carton to make your boat.
  2. Poke a hole at the stern of the boat, fairly close to the waterline.
  3. Put the balloon in the carton and push the nipple through the poked hole.
  4. Blow up the balloon while it’s inside the boat.
  5. Place the paperclip over the end of the balloon, between the nipple and the boat’s stern. This will stop the air from escaping too fast and the weight of the paperclip helps direct the air downwards into the water.
  6. Put the boat in the water and watch it go!

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