How To Make A Homemade Bottle Rocket: Summer Of Science Series

The Summer of Science Series is all about the fun science experiments I’ve been doing with the kids this summer.

You want to know what gets kids really excited? Watching stuff launch or explode! So for this science project, we made a homemade bottle rocket! We needed dad’s help for this one. He’s become our weekend warrior, helping out with the experiments that are too dangerous for our 9-year-old to do on her own.

Materials needed:

• Empty plastic bottle
• Water
• Cork
• Pump with needle adapter (a bike pump will do)

Fill the plastic bottle about a quarter full with water (we used an old 2 liter from a previous experiment). Plug the top of the bottle tightly with a cork. Push the needle adapter from the pump all the way through the cork. You may have to trim the cork to make the needle go through.

Decorate the bottle by adding some cardboard fins and a cone. You can make the cone out of construction paper or the same cardboard you made the fins from. Now it actually looks like a rocket!

This experiment should definitely be done outside. And if you have a small backyard close to neighbors like we do, you might want to do this in a park just to be safe.

Once you have it outside, connect the pump to the needle adapter. Dad wanted to be super fancy, so he got a cardboard box and made it into a launching pad. He rested the bottle rocket on top with a hole underneath so that he could pump air into the bottle. We ended up having to switch pumps because our first attempt resulted in several minutes of pumping but a still grounded rocket.

Pump air into the bottle, making sure everyone is a safe distance away. This experiment should definitely be done with the help and supervision of an adult as the flying bottle rocket can fly high and take off forcefully. As air is pumped through the water, the pressure will build up inside the bottle until enough pressure pushes the cork out of the top of the bottle. Water pushes out downwards while the bottle pushes back upwards. The result: Your very own flying bottle rocket!

Check it out in the video below!