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You are here: Home / Homeschool / Make Your Own Solar Oven S’mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S’mores

June 11, 2018 by Erin Vincent 27 Comments

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Did you know that your kids can build their own solar oven out of pizza boxes? It’s true! What’s more, there is loads to be learned about the concentration of the sun’s energy and you can all enjoy a tasty treat at the end of the process: Solar Oven S’mores! Here is how we made these tasty s’mores and learned about Reflection, Absorption, and Convection.

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

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Make Your Own Solar Oven S’mores

Materials Needed for a Solar Oven

  • Cardboard Pizza Box
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Scissors or Box Cutter (with adult supervision)
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Clear Tape
  • Black Construction Paper
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Dish or Pie Plate (we left off this step and had no problems)
  • Cooking Ingredients for S’mores (Graham Crackers, Chocolate Bars, Large Marshmallows)

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

We started by using our ruler to measure a square on the top of the pizza box 1 inch from the edges. Our son used the scissors to cut three of the four side of the square out. I helped him at the corners,  but he did the rest of the cutting himself.

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Making Solar Oven S’mores Teaches About Reflection, Absorption, and Convection!

Reflection

He made a crease along the uncut side of the square to create the flap that stands up. Then he taped aluminum foil to the inner side of this flap. The aluminum foil acts as a reflector by reflecting the sun’s light and heat into the solar oven.

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Absorption

He placed black construction paper inside the solar oven to absorb the light and heat being reflected into it by the aluminum foil.

Convection

With mine and Papa’s help (because plastic wrap is evil and only wants to stick to itself) our son taped plastic wrap to the inside edges of the square window that he had cut out…did I mention that plastic wrap is evil or that it didn’t help that the wind started to blow at this point! I LOATHE plastic wrap! However, once it was securely in place it did its job of preventing convection i.e. the transfer or escape of warmed air/heat in the solar oven.

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Solar Oven S’mores

When we had our solar oven complete we were ready to make our s’mores. The best time to use your solar oven is between 11 am and 2 pm. This is when the sun is at it’s hottest! I was excited to have found a gluten free graham cracker, but the kids were more excited about the bars of chocolate!

We laid the graham crackers on the black paper (as we had forgotten our plates) then placed a large marshmallow on each graham cracker. Then we topped them off with three pieces of chocolate. The chocolate also acts as an absorber of heat because of its dark color!

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Then we waited for the sun and our solar oven to do their work. We checked on our s’mores every thirty minutes and we thrilled at the transformation we saw in the marshmallows and chocolate as they started to melt. It took about 2 hours for the marshmallows to become ooey gooey.

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Perfection! Ooey Gooey Perfection! Our solar oven s’mores were ridiculously delicious. Seriously, this stuff was fantastic! In fact, we enjoyed them so much that we are making them again tomorrow!

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

Here are some of our favorite Science Activity Books!

Make Your Own Solar Oven S'mores

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About Erin Vincent

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angela M Roberts says

    June 24, 2018 at 11:26 pm

    What a fun and delicious learning activity! We use the same graham crackers.
    We actually utilized a solar oven when we were without power last year, life-lessons (thankful for pizza boxes too)!

    Reply
    • Erin Vincent says

      June 25, 2018 at 11:16 am

      Brilliant way to overcome the loss of power! Well done! Those are the kinds of life-lessons that will stick with your kids for sure.

      Reply
  2. Brandy says

    June 12, 2018 at 11:52 am

    Love this idea! Putting it on my list of activities to try this summer 🙂

    Reply
    • Erin Vincent says

      June 20, 2018 at 9:14 am

      You won’t regret it! This activity is fun, delicious, and full of science.

      Reply
  3. Jennifer says

    June 12, 2018 at 8:47 am

    We just did this with our Science in the Park group! It was so much fun 🙂

    Reply
    • Erin Vincent says

      June 20, 2018 at 9:14 am

      Awesome! It’s such a fun and delicious science activity.

      Reply
  4. Lisa Nehring says

    June 12, 2018 at 8:08 am

    LOVE It! I’ll be doing this with my teens this summer!

    Reply
    • Erin Vincent says

      June 20, 2018 at 9:13 am

      Awesome! They will have such fun making s’mores! You can also try making your own pizzas, and lasagna too.

      Reply
  5. Chenoah says

    May 2, 2018 at 11:05 am

    I always like your ideas …but S’MORES 😍 ! Genius. Can’t wait to try this project this summer.

    Reply
    • Erin Vincent says

      May 6, 2018 at 10:51 am

      Awe, thank you! I hope you enjoy this fun activity!

      Reply
  6. Annie Kate says

    May 17, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    Wow! Great idea!

    Reply
    • Erin Vincent says

      May 18, 2017 at 10:20 am

      Thank You!

      Reply

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Welcome! I'm Erin, a homeschooling mom to two very intense kids. Every day I try to find what works best for me and my family. My blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. I hope these posts will encourage you on your homeschool adventure.

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