Tie a cord to a hula hoop, and then to something sturdy such as a climber or pole. Dramatize the hula hoop as the “space suit” and the climber is the rocket. Go for a moon walk, but don’t let the cord snap! It is the only thing keeping the astronaut from being lost in space! Turn out the lights and use a flashlight for added fun!
Moon Walk: Outer Space Week we have a moon walk. Everybody brings a pillow from home, or we borrow them from nap cots. Also need several large sheets, and few unbreakable, med. to large size objects, such as big blocks. Clear large spot on floor. Place Items on floor to represent terrain, cover with pillows & pile more randomly in area, cover with sheets. Let children take turns walking on the moon. You can talk about how it would feel to walk on the moon. Add Shoe box moon boots or big house shoes for an added touch.
Take sheets of scrap paper (copy paper works best) and crumple them into balls. You will need two for each child. Explain that these are moon rocks. They are almost weightless as they would be on the moon. Divide your class into two teams. Put one team on one side of the room behind a strip of masking tape. Put the other team on the other side of the room behind another strip of masking tape. The two pieces of tape should be about 8 feet apart. Neither team is allowed to cross their tape (or their connection to the spaceship will be lost). Count down from 10 to 1. At blastoff, the children can throw moon rocks at each other. If any rocks land within reach you may pick them up and throw them again.
I call this activity “Balloon Launch” I hook a medium sized balloon onto the end of a bicycle pump, and let the children use the pump to fill the balloon with air. When the balloon get full enough, it lets loose and flies around the room (to the squealing delight of my kids)! You can reuse the balloon about 2 more times with the same result BUT, about the 3rd or 4th time, the balloon pops…..which also causes peals of laughter.
Made a large 2 ft square tic tac toe board, using a sheet of black card and masking tape, laminated it and stuck Velcro spots in each of the 9 squares.
Then I enlarged and copied astronauts and aliens, 5 of each, colored them in, laminated them and Velcro spotted also.
Now we divide the class into 2 and play…kids on each team helping tell others where to place the piece. Will it be invasion…or can we halt them in their tracks???