Age Recommendation: Any!
Length of Activity: 10-20min
With the weather getting warmer, a really fun project to do on a sunny day would be making a solar oven out of a box. A solar oven can be used to heat up food, make s’mores, and so much more. However, it is suggested that any food ‘cooked’ in it be already cooked, so foods like hotdogs or marshmallows would be fine. It is recommended to not use it to cook raw foods like raw eggs or raw meat. Although most of the solar oven instructions available online are made from pizza boxes, I used a shoe box because I didn’t have any pizza boxes, but either types of boxes should work. Parent supervision is recommended in this project and enjoy!
Materials Needed
- Shoe Box
- Aluminum Foil
- Skewer (or any type of long skinny stick)
- Duct Tape
- Balck Construction Paper
- Plastic Wrap
- Sharpie (for decoration)
Let’s Go!
1.Cut off the edge of the top cover (lid) of the shoe box so it becomes flat, without protruding edges.
2. Cover the inside of the top cover (lid), which was just cut, in aluminum foil, bend excess aluminum foil over to the other side of the top cover. Then cover the outside part of the top cover in duct tape. This should tape down the aluminum foil and provide an easily decorated surface
3. Tape the black construction paper to the bottom of the box.
4. Cover the inside of the sides of the box with aluminum foil. Foil that pokes out can be bent back to lay over the edge of the box onto the outside of the box.
5. Tape the foil of the box and cover the outside of the box in duct tape to provide an easily decorated surface.
6. Decorate the box
7. Take the box outside and put the food that is to be cooked/ warmed up onto the black paper then cover the opening of the box in plastic wrap which will keep heat in and prevent stuff from flying into the box.
8. Prop up the lid of the box with the skewer and take it outside. Make sure the box is in a place with a lot of sunlight. The angle of the lid, propped up by the skewer, might have to be adjusted (make sure light reflected from the aluminum foil hits the black paper).
9. Congratulations on making a solar oven and wait patiently for the food to cook.
How does it Work?
The aluminum foil on the top of the box reflects sunlight on the black paper. Since black is the color that absorbs heat the best, the sunlight will heat up the black paper. At the same time, the plastic wrap helps keep that heat in. Thus, the food is able to be cooked.
