With 3 Space fascinated children I created a rocket for them to launch off into space, complete with twinkling stars. My daughter has always had a space fascination. After some bedtime stories the boys have also started to ask questions and show a real interest for the topic space. I love when the children show what they're interested in and I always love to support their interests.
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I am sharing on our stories on Instagram lots of simply play ideas so make sure you're following us over there too. This week this post went CRAZY over there with lots of people saying they were going to try it out too.
We recently brought some new car seats for the children. I was more excited by the size of the cardboard boxes they came in, knowing we would have fun playing with them. Once the interest had started to unfold I set about making them a rocket to play in.
Space Sensory Play with Coloured Salt
Space Sensory Play with Coloured Salt
I started by sketching out the rocket. Once all sketched out I set about painting it using children's paint. It didn't take long at all to make. I left it to dry for a few hours before coming back to it later on in the evening.
I then traced around some circular shapes to construct the windows. I cut out circles on the box so they could look out. I used a Stanley craft knife to carefully cut them out. The window frame was again made by cardboard. I used the knife to carefully cut out the rings. I used a layer of tin foil to sit around the holes on the boxes and I wrapped foil around the 'rings' too. I stuck them down with glue before moving on to the twinkling lights.
To make this idea really magical for the children I wanted to add some twinkling stars to the box. I used a small screwdriver to pierce holes around the box. I brought some lights off Amazon UK/ US a while ago now similar to this set UK / US. They were perfect for this activity. This was the part that took the most time to do. I had to carefully thread the lights into the holes and secure them in place with tape. Once I got the hang of it, it started to come together quickly.
Space Rocket Craft with Free Printable
Space Rocket Craft with Free Printable
I made sure that a stuck down any wiring so the children wouldn't be able to pull at it while they were playing., It was all fully secured down and they played with this under my full supervision.
Once the lights were all in place it was ready to play with.
My lovely friend Stacey brought the boys an astronaut dressing up costume for their Birthday recently which complimented this activity brilliantly.
We spent the morning talking about how we would love to go to space. Throwing ideas back and forth about how we could get to the moon. The children all said we needed a rocket and had spent time making little plans on how they could get a rocket. Their imaginations - pure gold.
I made them their lunches and they sat there enjoying them. At work we used to plan hooks for the children when we were revealing new topics to really get them engaged and excited about the new topic that was about to unfold.
I came out into the kitchen just as they were about to finish their lunch. I had popped the rocket in place and popped the lights on to flashing. I set up our Google Smart Speaker and using Spotify I found a bleeping noise followed by an explosion. I went and joined the children just before the sound started to play and their little faces we're such a picture. They excitedly ran out into the kitchen and saw the rocket.
They spent all afternoon on and off playing inside it and pretending to launch off into space to do special jobs such as collecting moon rock, checking on the weather, looking for shooting stars and signs of life on other planets. It was such a success.
Lets see this activity in action:
We also took it up into their bedroom and closed their blackout curtains so they could see all the lovely stars twinkling away. All this fun with zero cost.
We love playing and getting creative with cardboard boxes! Lots of fun.
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