It’s National S’mores Day! Here is a favorite of ours from the archives (way, way back in the archives…like June 15, 2010)!
This is not only a tasty treat, but it’s a fun experiment, too. Grab your kids and supplies and have fun making Solar S’mores together! You could even record your results by filling out our scientific method printable sheet.
Solar S’Mores
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Supplies:
- Cardboard box
- Foil
- Tape
- Plastic wrap
- Graham crackers
- Marshmallow
- Chocolate bar
1) Line the inside of a cardboard box with foil.
2) Place the chocolate bar and marshmallow on top of the graham cracker. Cover the top with plastic wrap and tape it down. Try to move the box carefully or the marshmallows will fall off (it will still work fine even if they do. Ours fell off, but I just put them back on when we took off the plastic wrap!).
3) Place the box in the sunshine for one-half to two hours (depending on the temperature outside and how direct the sunlight). It was partly cloudy today, so it took longer for ours to work. I think it would work pretty quickly if there were no clouds in sight!
4) Allow your child to feel how hot the box is and see the effect of the sun on the chocolate and marshmallows. Then, eat your Solar S’mores snack!
You should also tag this with camping! This is a great idea
we’re going to try it, but we imagine that it will be ready in just 10 minutes for us!!! (very. hot. days. here!)
This will work great for all the neighborhood kids here in AZ. 🙂
If you put the marshmallows on their ends instead of on their sides they won’t roll off.
This is a great idea that could be used for classroom as an end of year activity. I can even envision preschool students getting a kick out of this. (just put the box out before nap time – The wait would be far too long for them, otherwise!)
Tried this out with our Boys & Girls Club summer camp and they enjoyed it very much! We altered the process by having them make an origami style box out of the foil instead of using the box. We also had them pull apart the marshmallow and have them put the sticky parts to the chocolate. The experiment sat out in the sun for about 10-20 minutes before it started to really melt. Very cool project, thank you for sharing!