Balloon-Powered Car Races at Founders Park

If you were at Founders Park last weekend, you probably saw a bunch of kids cheering, laughing, and racing plastic bottle cars powered by balloons—and that was all thanks to Jaden Cheng and the Bonita High School chapter of STEM Inspire!

The event started with a quick demo on Newton’s Third Law—for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Then, kids got to put that concept into action, designing and building their own balloon-powered cars using plastic bottles, bottle caps, straws, and tape. At first, some struggled to get their cars to move (cue frustrated balloon noises), but after some quick troubleshooting—adjusting wheels, using smoother surfaces, and adding more air—everyone had a working model.

The real fun started when we set up a race track and let the kids compete. Some cars shot forward at impressive speeds, while others took a more leisurely approach (a.k.a. rolling two inches and stopping). One kid even got creative and taped two balloons together for extra power, leading to an unexpectedly fast car that won the final race.

By the end of the day, the kids not only walked away with cool handmade cars, but also a better understanding of how forces and motion work in the real world. Huge success! Looking forward to hosting more fun, hands-on experiments at Founders Park in the future!