6 Hands-On Ways to Learn About Space

Nearly every child is mesmerized with and wants to learn about space! Now you can take their natural curiosity a step further. Engage your kids with these fun hands-on activities that they will absolutely love.

Learn About Space

Kids of all ages will love learning about space by creating a Solar System Pom Pom Mobile to hang in the homeschool room. Your kids will learn about the colors, relative sizes, and placement of the planets with this hands-on activity. And your crafty kids will love learning how to make pom poms! 

Here’s all you need:

• pom pom winders
• varied colored yarns
• stick or hoop to hang your mobile
• felt
• glue
• fishing wire

Here are a few more great resources for learning about the solar system with your kids:

• How Big is Our Solar System? Astronomy Activity for Kids
• Seven Wonders of the Solar System Unit Study
• FREE Songs and Educational Videos for Studying the Solar System

Learn about the phases of the moon and with this fun space exploration activity. All you need is a flashlight, a ball for the moon, a stick, and some string. This activity is perfect for ages 5-11 and will take less than 30 minutes to complete. 

Check out these additional ideas for learning about the moon:

• FREE Printable Phases of the Moon Information Cards and Learning Activities
• Printables and Unit Studies on the Moon
• Moon Phases Mini Book

Or what about making their own Frozen Ice and Sand Comets? The kids that like to get their hands messy will adore this idea. Your littlest learners will be engaged with this sensory project to help learn about space. Here’s what you need:

• sand
• crushed ice
• water
• small bowl
• gloves or mittens

This project is super messy and requires adult supervision, but your kids will love it! See the full tutorial at KiwiCo.

Down to Earth

Now let’s move down to earth and take some time for Earth Exploration. In this fun activity, your kids will learn about the layers of the earth by creating their own model out of Play-dough. The materials list is so simple: various colors of Play-dough clay and floss for cutting through the layers. Kids ages 3-8 will enjoy this science activity.

Want to learn more about the earth’s layers? Try these ideas:

• Learning About the Layers of the Earth with Free Printables
• FREE Layers and Spheres of the Earth Notebooking Journal

Your kids can learn about the earth’s rotation and telling time with shadows using a sundial. It’s easier than you think to create one! Here’s what you need:

• wooden dowel
• toothpicks
• label
• markers
• small balls of clay

This project won’t take long to set up, but you’ll need to check on it each hour to set your sundial markers correctly. 

Your younger kids might like to try this FREE Paper Plate Sundial Craft to learn about the movement of the earth.

Learn how to identify constellations in the night sky by creating these Starry Night Constellations on your wall or ceiling. You’ll need a flashlight, pen, and card stock. Once you print out a constellation sheet, just punch out small holes where the stars are and shine your flashlight through in a dark room. Now you can learn to identify constellations!

Want a few more resources? Here they are:

• Resources to Learn About the Constellations
• FREE Constellations Cards and Cheat Sheets
• Star Gazing Constellations and Sewing Card Printables
• FREE Stars and Constellations Lapbook

Which activity will you try first? Kids are more engaged and remember more when we help them learn content using multiple modalities. So, hands-on learning really is great for most kids.