Mini Car Program

To further promote its mission to “educate and inspire youth,” the International Soap Box Derby® developed the Soap Box Derby Mini Car Program. The program is designed for students in classrooms, enrichment, after-school, and summer programs.

Engage Your Students With
Mini Car Activities

This innovative STEAM program features easily customized, all-inclusive and engaging learning activities and materials.

Grades 3 – 6
Mini Car #34 Program

This six- to eight-hour STEM program contains five activities where students will:

  • Explore and learn about the Soap Box Derby, its history, and gravity-racing
  • Learn about different tools, usage, and safety tips
  • Identify and create logos for their Mini Car shells
  • Construct, test, analyze data, and fine-tune their Mini Cars for a race
  • Compete in a Mini Car Race and showcase what they’ve learned.

Grades 5 – 6
Mini Car #56 Program

This sixteen- to eighteen-hour STEM program contains nine activities where students will investigate the different driving forces of Soap Box Derby Racing – forces that not only apply to the physics of racing and its outcome but also to the “impactful” force that Soap Box Derby Racing has had on young people’s lives throughout its history.

Engaging, investigative clues and activities will lead students in the discovery of these driving forces of Soap Box Derby Racing and factors that may impact a race’s outcome.

Students building their mini cars.

Students weigh their mini cars.

Finished mini cars on display.

Program Content Areas

Physical Science

Scientific Inquiry, Forces & Motion, Weight & Mass, Friction, Speed, Simple Machine, Energy.

Technology

Research, Critical Thinking, Innovation, Problem-Solving, Collaboration, Communication.

Engineering

Engineering Design Process, Define Problem, Assess Needs, Develop Solutions, Design and Create a Prototype, Test, Refine, Evaluate, Communicate.

Arts

Visual & Fine Art, Creativity & Expression, Analyzing & Interpretation, Application, Connecting, Production.

Mathematics

Measurement (standards & metric), Basic Math Concepts, Decimals, Fractions, Geometry, Graphing, Slope, Problem Solving, Time, Weight.

Start Your Mini Car Program!

Each Mini Car Program, when ordered as a package, comes complete with Mini Car kit, student activity booklet, SBD ruler, and STEM certificate. Mini Car kits, shells, and other Mini Car items may also be purchased separately in our online store.

Purchase Materials