My children are obsessed with space. They want their wall accents to be space-themed, their wallpaper to look like they have stars ✨ on it, and they even want to wear an astronaut’s uniform.
If you ask a group of children what they want to be as a grown-up, you’ll meet at least two children who wish to be astronauts 🧑🚀.
And who can fault our kids’ observation of space when, even as adults, we question what is out there? As a young girl’s parent, I want to nurture this curiosity for space rather than push it under the rug. I want my children to raise questions and seek answers.
Fascinating Rocket Activities For Children
The activities and experiments below are for children of all ages. My aim with these rocket-inspired activities is to foster creativity and teach my children the role of chemistry and physics in rocket 🚀 science.
Hopefully, your children find these experiments riveting and exciting to take part in.
Paper Plate Rocketship
This craft activity is a great way to make use of disposable paper plates 🍽️.
What you need-
Paper plate, paint, pencil ✏️, glitter tubes, glue, paintbrush, scissors, and construction paper.
Steps-
- Instruct your child to paint the paper plate entirely with black or dark blue paint to resemble the night sky.
- While the paint is drying, ask them to draw a rocket 🚀 ship on the construction paper with a pencil ✏️, paint, and crayons. Cut with scissors.
- Paste the rocket on the paper plate 🍽️and ask your child to use the glitter tubes to make the stars and the rocket’s propulsion.
Baking Soda and Vinegar Bottle Rocket
My son was recently introduced to the topic of chemical reactions at school. So, I decided we should perform this experiment at home.
What you need-
A used and empty plastic bottle, a cork that fits the bottle, vinegar, baking soda, scissors ✂️, a funnel, three unused pencils, tape, and toilet paper.
Steps-
- Tape three pencils ✏️ to the bottom of the bottle in such a way that the bottle is a couple of inches above the ground.
- To make the rocket 🚀 fuel, on a piece of toilet paper, place a tablespoon of baking soda and roll the paper tightly so that it can fit the bottle opening. Repeat the process to make several baking soda packets and insert them into the bottle.
- Fill the bottle with vinegar using a funnel and quickly put the cork in the bottle. Stand aside and watch what happens (the bottle is meant to launch upwards due to the rapid production of water and carbon dioxide gas.
Pro tip-
Explain to your child the reason behind the bottle’s launch.
Banana and Strawberry Rocket Fruit Snacks
These banana and strawberry rocket 🚀 fruit snacks are a wonderful way to make your children eat healthy fruits.
What you need-
Banana slices 🍌, strawberries, raspberries, and a wooden skewer.
Steps-
- Insert a raspberry through a wooden skewer.
- Next, alternatively, insert a slice of strawberry 🍓and banana until a third of the wooden skewer is full.
- For the top, cut the bottom half of a strawberry 🍓 in such a way that it has a conical shape. You are done.
Pro tip-
You can also dip the stick in melted chocolate and cover it with nuts or seeds.
Make a Straw Rocket
Challenge your kids to see whose rocket 🚀 will fly the farthest with this rocket craft.
What you need-
Pencil ✏️, tape, plastic straw, tape, and construction paper.
Steps-
- Help your child draw a generic rocket body from the construction paper. Cut with scissors ✂️and wrap it around the pencil. Secure it to the pencil with tape.
- To make the nose of the rocket 🚀 , wrap a conical piece of paper at the top of the pencil.
- Remove the pencil ✏️ from the other side and replace it with a plastic straw.
- To propel the rocket, your child must blow through the straw.
Encourage your child to play with the design of the rocket 🚀 by adding fins or changing the length of the body.
Red Solo Cup Rocket Launcher
There is no greater satisfaction than playing with a toy that you made yourself. Instruct your child to make their own rockets 🚀 with this easy craft.
What you need-
Mini solo cups, ribbon, hot glue, scissors, and, for the launcher, anything with a spring attachment.
Steps-
- Cut several strips from orange, red, and yellow ribbons 🎗️.
- Stick the ribbon to the inside of the solo cup with hot glue.
- You can ask your child to decorate the solo cup with markers or glitter.
- Next, place the launcher inside the solo cup. Your child should have enough space to hold the launcher and pull the trigger.
Fruit Snacks Rocket
This fruit snack rocket 🚀 is a great way to include fruits in your child’s lunch box.
What you need-
Blueberries, green grapes, strawberries 🍓, and wooden skewers.
Steps-
- Alternatively, insert a blueberry and green grapes 🍇 on the wooden skewer.
- Finally, place a strawberry at the top.
Pro tip-
You can replace the above-mentioned fruits with other fruits, like apples and kiwi fruits.
Toilet Paper Rocket Craft for Toddlers
Your toddler will love making this rocket 🚀 craft that will strengthen their fine motor skills.
What you need-
Empty toilet paper roll, construction paper, paint, pens, and paintbrush.
Steps-
- Instruct your toddler to paint over the toilet paper roll with their favorite paint color.
- On the construction paper, draw four propellers and cut with scissors ✂️. Secure the bottom of the toilet paper with tape and glue.
- Use the same construction paper to make the rocket’s nose by cutting a strip of paper and rolling it into a cone. Secure the top of the toilet roll with tape.
- Finally, cut two circles for the rocket 🚀 windows and paste between the propellers and the nose of the rocket.
Bicycle Pump Bottle Rocket
Although it took my kids and me a couple of hours to make this rocket 🚀 , the end result was extremely satisfying.
What you need-
Empty soda bottle, bicycle pump, duct tape, water, construction paper, cardboard, clay, and a cork that fits the bottle.
Steps-
- Roll a large piece of construction paper into a cone and secure it to the bottom of the bottle. Cover the entire construction paper with tape.
- Cut four equal large triangles from the cardboard for the fins of the rocket 🚀 . Using tape, attach the cardboard triangles around the nozzle of the bottle in such a way that the bottle is lifted above ground.
- Wrap the nozzle of the bottle with playdough or clay and use tape to secure it.
- Fill the bottle halfway through with water, then place the cork in the nozzle.
- Use the needle of the bicycle 🚲pump to make a hole in the center of the cork.
- Now, place the bottle in such a way that it is standing on its fins.
- Ask your child to quickly use the bicycle pump. With enough pressure, the rocket 🚀 will launch in the air.
Pro tip-
Make sure that you and your child perform this activity in your backyard, as being hit with the bottle can lead to injury.
Aluminum Foil Rocket Ship
Improve your child’s spelling skills along with their shape recognition skills with this adorable craft for toddlers.
What you need-
Aluminum foil, black construction paper, scissors ✂️, white paint, glue stick, toothbrush, and a black marker.
Steps-
- Dip an old toothbrush 🪥 in white paint and flick it to make the stars on the black construction paper.
- While the paint is drying, help your child draw two right-angled triangles, one large rectangle, and an equilateral triangle on a sheet of aluminum foil and cut with scissors ✂️.
- To assemble the rocket 🚀 , apply glue to the back of the large rectangle and paste it on the black construction paper.
- Apply glue to the two right-angled triangles and paste it near the bottom of the rectangle on the opposite sides.
- Apply glue to the back of the remaining triangle and paste it at the top of the rectangle.
- With the black marker, ask your child to write their name inside the rocket 🚀 .
Fruit and Marshmallow Space Rocket Snack
This marshmallow fruit snack is a great after-school snack.
What you need-
Chocolate-covered marshmallows, strawberries 🍓, and papaya.
Steps-
- Insert a slice of papaya through the wooden skewer.
- Then, insert slices of strawberries 🍓 and chocolate-covered marshmallows through the wooden skewer.
- Place the bottom of the strawberry at the top of the wooden skewer, and your rocket 🚀 snack is done.
Black Water Beads Rocket Sensory Bin
Your toddler or preschooler will enjoy digging their hands in this space-themed sensory bin meant to foster their creativity and imagination.
What you need-
A shallow plastic container, toy planets, water beads, spacemen figurines, and a rocket 🚀 ship.
Steps-
Place the toy planets, water beads, figurines, and the rocket 🚀 ship inside the plastic container and let your child’s imagination take over.
Rocket Making Challenge
This summer, I challenged my kids and their friends to make the best rocket 🚀 from the materials presented to them. Provide the children with a wide variety of arts and crafts supplies, along with some kitchen supplies like paper cups and foils. Then let them design their own rocket 🚀 .
Rubber Band Rocket Launcher
This rubber band launcher takes only a few minutes to make but will entertain your children for hours.
What you need-
Solo cups, construction paper, crayons, rubber bands, and a pencil.
Steps-
- Ask your children to draw rockets 🚀 on construction paper with crayons and then cut them out with scissors ✂️. Paste it to a solo cup.
- On the rim of the solo cup, poke four small holes with a pencil.
- Cut two rubber bands in half and thread them through the holes in the cup in such a way that they make a cross. Tie knots to secure the rubber bands to the solo cup.
- Place this solo cup on top of another solo cup and push it down to launch.
Pigs in a Blanket Rocket Ship
My kids absolutely loved these rocket-inspired pigs-in-blanket appetizers.
What you need-
Smoked mini sausages 🌭, Crescent roll dough, egg, cheddar cheese block, wooden skewers, water, and garlic powder.
Steps-
- Rinse the smoked sausages with clean water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
- Grease a baking sheet with butter.
- Separate the Crescent roll dough triangles and place them on the baking sheet. Cut the triangular pieces of dough into even smaller pieces of triangles.
- Place the sausage horizontally on the widest part of the dough.
- Start rolling the dough until you reach the end of the dough. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.
- In a small bowl, whisk an egg with a fork. Sprinkle some garlic powder in the egg and once again mix.
- Brush the egg mixture on the dough with a silicone brush. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the dough is golden brown.
- Meanwhile, cut a slab from the cheddar cheese wheel and cut the slab into small triangles.
- Once the pigs in a blanket are out of the oven, insert a wooden skewer until it reaches the top. Place the cheese slice on top, and you are done.
Paint Pour Rocket Water Bottle Activity
Although this activity can get messy, children have a lot of fun participating in it.
What you need-
Non-toxic paint, a funnel, a soda bottle, glue, red and orange tissue paper, and tape.
Steps-
- Make strips from the orange and red construction paper. Secure these strips to the bottom of the bottle with tape.
- After properly cleaning the inside of the bottle, ask your child to pour different paint colors by placing a funnel at the nozzle.
- Put the cap of the bottle back on and use glue to secure the cap in its place.
- Instruct your child to vigorously shake the bottle and see the rocket 🚀 change its color.
Pro tip-
You can also ask your child to make other features of the rockets, like fins and a nose.
Candy Rocket Craft
This craft was straightforward for my kids to follow, and they loved the payoff at the end.
What you need-
Toilet paper roll, paint, paintbrush 🖌️, ribbon, cardstock paper, tape, stapler, markers, and candies.
Steps-
- Instruct your child to paint the empty toilet paper roll with their favorite color. They can decorate it further with markers, glitter, and colorful tape.
- To make the nose of the rocket 🚀 , cut a piece of cardstock paper and roll it into a conical shape. Secure the shape with tape and paste it on the toilet paper in such a way that it completely seals one of the open ends of the roll.
- Place several different wrapped candies inside the toilet roll and cover the remaining open end with tissue paper and tape.
- Cut a piece of ribbon and secure it to the center of the tissue paper with tape.
- You can decorate this end with more tissue paper. The rocket 🚀 is ready.
Pro tip-
You can ask your kids to make this craft for each other or their friends and fill it with candies that the other person enjoys.
Magnetic Rocket Craft for Toddlers
Magnets mesmerized my toddler, and her obsession with them inspired me to create this craft.
What you need-
Paper plate 🍽️, water paint, tape, crayons, construction paper, scissors ✂️, and two magnets.
Steps-
- Ask your child to paint the paper plate black to resemble space.
- Once the paint has dried, they can also make planets and stars with crayons.
- Next, ask them to draw a rocket 🚀 on construction paper with crayons and then carefully cut it with scissors ✂️.
- Place the magnet on the back of the rocket and secure it with tape.
- Place the rocket 🚀 on the paper plate.
- Now, ask your child to hold the paper plate 🍽️ with the rocket while holding the other magnet behind the plate. As they move this magnet around, they’ll also see the rocket 🚀 move.
This activity is a wonderful way to inspire creativity amongst your children and introduce them to topics like space exploration.
Rocket-Shaped Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
If you are hosting a space-inspired birthday party for your kids, then consider making these cookies.
What you need-
Unsalted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, all-purpose flour, baking powder, table salt, powdered sugar, milk, light corn syrup, and food coloring.
Steps-
- To make the cookies 🍪, in a stand mixer, mix a cup of unsalted butter with a cup of granulated sugar until the mixture becomes smoother and has a lighter color.
- Next, add a large egg and a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mixer and mix everything until well combined.
- Sift two and a half cups of all-purpose flour and three-quarters of a cup of baking powder and table salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the flour to the butter mixture, cup by cup, and whisk everything until the dough is smooth and can hold its shape.
- Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and let it rest in a refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out half of the dough till it is a quarter of an inch thick (place the remaining dough back in the fridge for later use). Cut the dough and place it on the baking sheet using the rocket-shaped cookie cutter. Bake until the cookie is golden brown. Once done baking, place the cookies 🍪 on a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile, to make the frosting, sift 3 cups of powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the sugar, along with half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and two tablespoons of light corn syrup. Mix everything well with a wooden spoon.
- Divide the icing into three bowls. Add a few drops of red, orange, and blue food coloring in each bowl. Mix well and pour in piping bags.
- Fill the cookie’s top portion of the cookie 🍪with the orange icing and the bottom with red icing.
- Make the rocket’s windows with blue icing.
Squeezy Water Bottle Rocket
This bottle rocket 🚀 experiment is another great way of introducing your children to engineering concepts and rocket science.
What you need-
Squeezy water bottle with a sports cap, cardboard, a wide and slightly less wide straw, playdough, scissors ✂️, and tape.
Steps-
- Pull the sports cap of the squeezy bottle and insert the smaller straw halfway through the hole.
- Make sure that when you squeeze the bottle, air comes out only from the top of the straw, and then secure the straw to the bottle cap with playdough.
- Instruct your child to draw a small rocket 🚀 on a piece of cardboard. Carefully cut the rocket with a pair of scissors ✂️ and stick the rocket to the bigger straw with tape.
- Seal the end of the straw, which is facing in the direction of the nose of the rocket 🚀 with tape.
- Place the bigger straw on top of the smaller straw.
- To launch the rocket, ask your child to squeeze the bottle hard. The air inside the bottle will propel the rocket in the air.
Pro tip-
Challenge your kids to a rocket race to see whose rocket 🚀 will fly the furthest.
Flying Rocket Ship Craft for Preschoolers
My daughter and I took part in this activity after school, and she was a big fan.
What you need-
Construction paper, crayons, string, glue stick, tape, and hole punch.
Steps-
- Ask your child to draw the rockets 🚀 of their dream on a white construction paper with crayons. Then, help them carefully cut it with scissors ✂️.
- Take a black construction paper and ask your child to decorate it with glitter and stickers so it resembles space.
- Now, ask your child to fold this black construction paper in half and make two holes near the top and bottom on the folded line.
- On a piece of string, secure the rocket with the help of tape.
- Thread the ends of the string through the top and bottom holes in the black construction paper. Tie the ends at the back of the paper.
- Pull the string up and down to give the illusion that the rocket 🚀 is flying through space.
Rocket Cake for a Space-Themed Birthday Party
I made this rocket 🚀 cake for my son’s birthday party with the help of a friend, and it turned out absolutely amazing.
What you need-
Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, powdered sugar, space-themed cake toppers, sprinkles, and blue and black food coloring.
Steps-
- Prepare two 8-inch cake pans by greasing their sides with butter 🧈and lining their bottoms with parchment paper. Also, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift two and a half cups of flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of baking soda, and one teaspoon of salt. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk a cup of butter 🧈and one and a half cups of sugar until the mixture is well-combined and creamy.
- Afterward, add four large eggs, one teaspoon of vanilla, and three-quarters of a cup of milk. Mix everything together.
- Cup by cup, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix everything until it is combined.
- Pour the batter equally into the two cake pans and put it in the oven. Bake for at least 35 to 40 minutes.
- Insert a skewer through the middle of the cake to check whether the cake is cooked properly.
- Remove the cakes from the pan and let them cool down completely on wire racks.
- Meanwhile, start making the frosting by mixing one and a half cups of softened unsalted butter 🧈 in a large bowl with 5 cups of powdered sugar. Add two to three teaspoons of milk and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Remove a cup of frosting from this bowl and add a few drops of black food coloring to it.
- Dye the remaining frosting blue with the blue food coloring. Pour both frostings into two piping bags.
- On the cake stand, place the bottom layer of the cake and pipe the blue frosting, completely covering the layer. Place the top layer and cover the entire cake with blue frosting.
- Use the black frosting to make a rocket 🚀 in the middle of the cake, and write your child’s name with it as well.
- Decorate the cake with sprinkles and the planet-shaped cake toppers. Your cake is ready.
Magnetic Blocks Rocket
Challenge your kids to a rocket-making competition using magnetic wooden blocks and plastic tiles. Let their imagination and creativity run wild as they create what their rocket 🚀 would look like.
Read Books About the Rockets
There are many fictional and non-fictional children’s books about rockets 🚀 and space travel that you can encourage your kids to read.
I recommend making your children read the following books- Rocket Science for Babies by Chris Ferrie, Edward Built a Rocketship by Michael Rack, Rocket and Rover/ All About Rockets by Emily Skwish, I Can Be a Rocket Scientist by Anna Claybourne, and How a Rocket Works by Lara Bryan.
Conclusion
As children grow older, they become increasingly curious about space and what is beyond Earth. These rocket 🚀 crafts are a great way to explore these concepts, just like a real-life rocket allows astronauts 🧑🚀 to explore space.
The aforementioned activities can be easily performed at home, especially during school breaks. I hope to have included a wide range of activities and exercises that kids of all ages will find exciting enough to engage.
In the comments below, write about your experience with these activities and whether your children enjoyed participating.
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)