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Most of us parents are always on the lookout for ideas of activities to keep our kids entertained and happy. Especially at the moment, when lots of us find ourselves in the position of attempting to homeschool our children to some extent while schools are closed. If you have a space-mad little one and you’re looking for a bit of inspiration, then look no further! Here are 25 fun and easy EYFS space activities you can do at home with your child.
I’ve aimed this post at EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) aka Reception children, just because that’s the age of the twiglets (4-5 years). So I feel it’s what I know most about at the moment. I’m sure lots of these activities could be used with children of various ages though! π
Art and Craft EYFS Space Activities
1. Design your own alien
This was a really fun task and we had a giggle over how many eyes, antennae etc their aliens could have π
2. Make a simple craft rocket
This simple rocket craft looks lots of fun and really effective.
3. Make space bookmarks
A super easy activity – just give kids a strip of card or paper and some colouring pencils.
4. Do some space colouring
Another super easy activity that requires basically no preparation. I love these space-themed mindfulness colouring pages π
DT/Construction Activities
5. Make a junk modelling rocket
All parents’ dream – junk modelling! Personally I bloody hate it but kids seem to love it so there we go! Useful to use up some of the recycling anyway. The twiglets did not make this independently, just to be clear! Theirs was heavily, erm, guided by Daddy π But with our two, if they had no help, they’d just hand us a cardboard box and say finished!
6. Make a Duplo rocket
The twiglets loved this challenge and spent ages making a launchpad to go with their rocket. I did have to give them a bit of help with making the actual rocket but they did really well. If your child was a bit older, they could do this with actual Lego rather than Duplo.
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7. Make a split-pin astronaut
This split-pin astronaut activity looks really fun. We haven’t tried it as we didn’t have any split pins, but it looks fab. Just print the resource onto card if possible so it’s a bit more sturdy.
8. Make a model solar system
This is a bit more involved than some of the other activities but kids would definitely enjoy it. Check out this post by Gift of Curiosity for instructions. Or you could try this slightly simpler version π Or even try this kit from Baker Ross:
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9. Do some space baking
This recipe for making space rock cakes with edible glitter looks fab! If you had some space-themed cookie cutters, you could make space biscuits too!
Literacy EYFS Space Activities
10. Read space books
Always a great idea to start with reading to immerse children in the topic. We read a few pages from a vintage Ladybird space book we had – it was a bit too advanced but the twigs seemed to enjoy it anyway. This Usborne book is great for little ones:
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11. Role play
Before doing any writing, particularly stories, it’s often a great idea to try a little role play. It helps the child to get into the character and try to feel what they would feel. Make sure you join in too! You can guide the kids by demonstrating pretending to look around and talking about all the things you can see. We pretended to get in our rockets and take off then landed on the moon and walked around.
12. Write a space setting description
After our little role-play, we wrote about what it was like in space. I asked the twigs to write some sentences about what they could see and how they felt. I reminded them about capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.
13. Write a space story
The twiglets had already done a mind map of a space story at school before the pandemic struck and home learning began. A mind map is basically a series of little pictures that help a child remember the sequence of a story so they can retell it and eventually write it. The child can refer back to it as they’re writing, to help them structure their work. I encouraged H and C to challenge themselves to use some descriptive language – ie adjectives like ‘green.’
14. Write a list of what they’d take to space
Talk to children about what they would take to space with them. Remind them they’d be going for a long time. This writing frame from Twinkl is lovely for this activity.
15. Write a description of their own alien
I prompted the twiglets with questions as they did this task, but let them write independently. For example, what’s your alien’s name? What does it look like? What does it like doing?
16. Write about an imaginary planet
Get children to imagine a new planet – think about what it’s like (cold/hot etc) and what it’s made of. You could use this Twinkl resource sheet to help.
17. Space wordsearch
Wordsearches are always a winner! This solar system space wordsearch looks great.
Numeracy EYFS Space Activities
18. Do some space-themed counting
We started by doing some physical counting of toys and cars, then used this Twinkl resource to do some space-themed counting. This was trickier than it looks as the twigs needed to be quite systematic to make sure they counted every item once.
19. Make a rocket using 2D shapes
Help develop children’s shape and space understanding by making this rocket out of 2D shapes.
Science Space Activities
20. Make a squeezy rocket launcher
This simple science experiment looks fab! Children can create a rocket then launch it into the air using the squeezy bottle launcher.
21. Test which planets float or sink
This floating and sinking experiment looks super fun too, to give children an idea of the density of different planets.
Physical Activity/P.E.
22. Cosmic Kids Yoga
Cosmic Kids Yoga sessions are so lovely – we use them all the time. The twigs really enjoyed the space-themed episode.
Music
23. Space Rap
This hip-hop space rap from Go Noodle is super fun for kids to watch. You could even challenge older kids to create their own space rap! Or try this StoryBots solar system song from Netflix Jr.
Space Play
24. Make a space sensory bin
Open-ended sensory play is really great for kids. This space-themed sensory bin with homemade moon sand looks great to encourage kids to use their imaginations and just play without a particular end goal. I’m sure you could also use kinetic sand if you couldn’t be bothered to make your own (ie – me!)
25. Fizzy alien planet sensory play
This fizzy alien sensory play looks like loads of fun too!
Thanks for reading my list of space-themed EYFS activities. I really hope it was useful!
Til next time,
Hannah xx
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12 Comments
They look like they had great fun doing these – we must try the squeezy rocket launcher!
Ah thank you – that was one of the ones we hadn’t tried yet but it looks great π
These are such lovely ideas for little ones! Absolutely adore the photos too, looks like alot of fun!
Ah thank you – we had a fun week π
With a 3 year old in the house I need all the help I can get – great ideas! #DreamTeamLinky
Ah fab, so glad it’s useful! π xx
I love all these ideas! I remember the space themed learning that mine did when she was in Reception… it was so much fun. She actually made a solar system model a bit like the one in your list. Thank you for joining us for the #DreamTeamLinky xx
Ahh lovely, yes we didn’t quite manage the whole solar system model but it would have been amazing π
Oh I love these, what great ideas. We’ve done a space-themed mobile before and have been learning about the first Moon landings recently so did a bit of crafting and small world play to support that. #KidsandKreativity
Fab, sounds lovely π x
My little boy is completely space obsessed! We have done junk modelled rockets before, but will have to give some of the other ideas a go. Thanks again for sharing at #KidsandKreativity
Thank you – space is a popular theme for little ones isn’t it π