3, 2, 1, Blast off! This is a Space Explorer’s box of fun! The Space Explorer’s Playdatebox includes 5 playdate activities for you to share with a family member, grandparent, or friend as you play together and pretend with aliens, space slime, planets, and more!
What’s in the box:
- “Your Alien” book by Tammi Sauer – this is a charming Read-Aloud picture book about a space alien who visits planet Earth and the friend who helps him find his way back home again.
- Space Explorer Alien Hunting Kit: Get ready to venture into outer space as you craft yourself a foil helmet (aluminum foil not included) and build your own alien-seeking space laser. Next, you’ll color and cut a few space aliens to hide so you and your playdate buddy can search out aliens in the dark.
- Space Words to Know: A free printable that will help you develop your space vocabulary with some amazing space images.
- Flying Straw Rockets: Decorate your own rocket, then send it zooming into the sky!
- Space Slime: Mix ingredients to make some galactic space slime. Add in some sparkly stars or glitter to make your space slime even more OUT OF THIS WORLD!
The Book: Read Your Alien Together
This is a sweet story about a little boy who discovers an alien in his backyard and their adventures together. A favorite with preschoolers, YourAlien will give you a chance to talk about families, hugs, and home.
Activity #1: Go Hunting for Aliens
Begin by downloading the alien-hunting printable so your preschooler can color a few aliens to hide around the house. Next, build yourselves some aluminum foil alien-hunting helmets, get your alien hunting flashlight out, and dim the lights as you hunt together for creatures hiding in plain sight all over your house. You’ll need
- a flashlight
- clear colored plastic
- aluminum foil
- crayons or markers
- and our Alien Coloring Page.
Click the image to download some fun aliens you can color and hide around the house while you are searching for aliens. Don’t forget to draw a few of your own. What do you think an alien looks like?
Coloring pages and downloadable space cards make for a fun space hunting activity. Make your own alien-hunting space flashlight with a colored plastic report cover.
Activity #2: Learn Some Space Lingo and Experience Outer Space
Whether your are watching launches of SpaceX or viewing images from the Hubble Space Telescope, now is a great opportunity to take a look at some of the exciting things that are going on in the atmosphere above us and beyond. To help you and your youngster discover some of the really cool things out there in space, we’ve created these fun Space Vocabulary Cards
Download this PDF with 15 colorful pages you can use to learn about outer space and some of the words we use to describe things we find there
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Activity #3: Build Your Own Rocket or Space Station
Here’s an open-ended play idea: Build your own space rocket (try draping blankets or sheets over a table) and go inside to fly to outer space. Take a laptop inside of your Space Station and watch a few videos in the dark as you learn all about what it’s like to live in the International Space Station.
Playdate #5: Fly Straw Rockets
You’ll need two sizes of drinking straws for this game (one size will need to fit inside of the other) plus our Straw Rockets printable.
Print and color this sheet so you can launch your straw rockets together.
Instructions:
- Color your straw rockets first and then cut them out.
- Cut your larger-size drinking straw in half and seal the top end closed.
- Use glue to attach each rocket to a sealed-end straw
- Using a longer straw with a narrower diameter than the straw you attached to your rocket, insert this longer straw into the sealed straw on the back of your rocket.
- Blow and watch it go.
- Have races and experiment with different angles, blowing harder and softer, and even blowing your rocket up into the air out-of-doors.
Playdate #6: Make Space Slime
Astronauts experience different gravity in space than we experience on earth, and children as young as 4 get a big kick out of these videos:
You can give a child a new sensory experience with messy, out-of-this-world space slime. It’s exceptionally cool, but can also damage surfaces so be sure you protect your clothing and play area and make sure a grownup is nearby to help.
We’ve included all necessary ingredients inside of your Playdatebox, but if you are trying this on your own at home, you’ll find lots of space slime recipes online.
Icky and sticky and sparkly, space slime is as mysterious and mesmerizing as a starry night.