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3, 2, 1, launch! Try making these super simple paper cup launchers for a backyard rocket launch competition that’s out of this world.

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Place two rubber bands lengthwise across the cup, making a cross shape over the opening.

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Add a third rubber band around the cup, to secure the two rubber bands in place. This will be the "rocket."

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Get ready to launch! Place a second cup upside down on a flat surface. Put the "rocket" over the base cup. Holding the lip of the rocket cup, pull down and release! Watch your "rocket" go flying!

cups (2)

rubber bands (3+)

Rubber Band Powered Cup Launcher

summer fun

Summer means warm weather, outdoor fun, and fireworks!  My kids are obsessed with the decorations and fun of the 4th of July!  To get ready, we made these fun toilet paper roll fireworks.  The kids had a great time painting them and have loved marching around with the streamers flying behind them.  They are all set for the parades!

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Gather all materials.  I always keep a basket in the bathroom to collect toilet paper rolls.  You never know when a good project will come along!

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The kids painted their toilet paper rolls with red, white, and blue washable paints.  My 4-year-old made stripes on hers.  My 2-year-old just painted in abstract bursts, but all of them turned out beautifully.  We always put our paint on paper plates for easy clean-up, but you could also use old applesauce or baby food containers.

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Once the toilet paper rolls dried, the kids put foil star stickers on them.  My 3 and 4-year-olds were able to do this with little assistance.  My 2-year-old had some trouble with this, but was able to put them on once I helped him remove them from the sticker sheet.  This is a fun way for little ones to practice their fine motor skills.

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For the top of their fireworks, we traced a cup and cut out a circle.  By cutting a line to the center of the circle (like a radius), we were able to create a cone shape.  

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I added a line of glue to keep the cones closed and the kids helped me count to 10 while we pressed firmly to seal our cones.

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The kids then added a line of glue around the top of the toilet paper roll and glued their cones to the top.

toilet paper tubes

construction paper

crepe paper

glue

star foil stickers

Washable paint and brushes

scissors

Toilet Roll Firework Rockets

engineering

Use a mailing tube to create a rocket that "blasts off!"

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Choose a metallic paint color. We used silver paint. 

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Paint the mailing tube with the silver paint and allow to dry.

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Cut out two rocket fin shapes from cardboard and paint them as well. Set them aside to dry.

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Attach the fins to the bottom of the rocket with the hot glue. Use clothespins to hold the fins in place while the glue dries.

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Once the glue dries, the rocket should look like the rockets in the photo (fins not painted yet in photo).

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Cut two squares from the red and orange fabric.  Put glue on the top inch or so of the orange fabric and then place the red fabric on top pf the orange. Trim off an inch or so of the red fabric so it looks like the photo.

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Cut slits in both the orange and red fabric to create a fringe stopping about an inch or so from the top.

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Cut the plastic tubing so it fits around the inside of the mailing tube.

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Fold the fabric down and over the plastic tubing. Then glue the fabric in place over the tubing.

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Create a circle with the plastic tubing and fabric as shown in the photo.  Hot glue the ends together and allow to dry. Use a clothespin to hold the ends together until glue is dry.

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Cut the craft paper into a circle.  Cut away 1/4 of the circle.   

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Glue the open ends of the circle together to create a cone for the top of the rocket. Affix the cone to the top of the mailing tube with hot glue.

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To use the rocket, tuck the flames into the bottom of the rocket. When the rocket "blasts off," pull the flames out again and soar into space! 

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mailing tube

metallic paint

red fabric

Orange fabric

cardboard

plastic tubing

metallic craft paper

hot glue / hot glue gun

clothespins

Making a Rocket

flight

How fast do you think a rocket needs to go in order to launch into orbit? A shuttle needs to go from 0 to 18,000 miles per hour to get to space! (This is 9 times faster than the speed of a rifle bullet!) While these paper straw rockets don't fly nearly as fast, we had a bunch of fun watching them zoom off. Give it a try and see how well your rockets fly!

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Each straw will act as a rocket launcher. To create your paper rockets, cut out 3" by 3" (7.6 x 7.6 cm)&nbsp;pieces of paper. Each piece of paper will be a rocket.

For this project, regular copy paper works better than thicker cardstock.

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Roll a piece of paper around a straw and tape down the edge to form a tube around the straw. Make sure the paper isn't rolled too tightly around the straw so that it can slide up and down. 

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Slide the paper about half an inch above the straw. Fold the top edge down and secure it with tape. You have now made a paper rocket! Make as many rockets as you like before moving onto the next step.

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Using markers, pipe cleaners and googly eyes, decorate what you'll add on to the rockets! 

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Attach the rocket decorations onto the paper rockets with glue or tape. With your rockets on one end of the straws, blow on the other end and watch your rockets blast off into the air! How far can you shoot your rockets? Grab a friend and see whose rocket goes farther!

straws

Paper

hot glue

Scissors

markers (optional)

pipe cleaners (optional)

google eyes (optional)

Straw Rockets

egg projects

explosions

eruptions

bubbles

bunny

Where do fizzy tablets get their fizz? After all, when they're in the package, they don't do anything at all. But drop them into a glass of water, and fizzy tablets (like Alka-Seltzer) immediately start fizzing, filling the glass with bubbles. The bubbles are full of carbon dioxide, just like in a glass of soda or fizzy water. You're seeing a chemical reaction in the glass, where compounds in the fizzy table react to make something new — in this case, carbon dioxide (and some other things). You can see this happen in a plain old glass of water, but these jumping Easter eggs are a festive way to have fun with fizzy tablets! in this case, carbon dioxide (and some other things). You can see this happen in a plain old glass of water, but these jumping Easter eggs are a festive way to have fun with fizzy tablets!

These egg rockets should only be launched outside, as they can make a bit of a mess. Make sure that children are wearing safety goggles and are closely supervised. The eggs will fly quite high, and children should be kept far back to avoid the launch area.

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Plan, sketch, and cut out designs for your animal. Consider what kind of shapes you might need to create them. We decided to go with a woodland theme so we created a fox, an owl, and a bunny. We used some circles, triangles and teardrop shapes, to create them.

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Attach your shapes to the egg with glue. We used glue sticks to attach the paper shapes to themselves, but needed hot glue to attach the paper shapes to the Easter eggs. Make sure to ask for grownup help, if needed.

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Now it's time to make your animals come to life! Accessorize with googly eyes, a mouth, and any other features your animal may have. What additional features will your animals have?

Stop! When the eggs are ready, make sure to head outside before launching your eggs. Put on safety goggles, and keep children well back from the launch area.

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To launch, place two fizzy tablets into the bottom half of an egg. Then fill the top half of the egg about halfway with water. Quickly close the egg and step back. After a few seconds, your egg should pop open and fly! The height of the rocket surprised us! While really exciting, make sure to take necessary precautions. We recommend for little ones to wear safety goggles!

Ever made a volcano with baking soda and vinegar? The fizz you get when you drop a fizzy tablet into a glass of water is exactly the same reaction. Fizzy tablets contain sodium bicarbonate (also called baking soda) mixed with citric acid, plus some other stuff. In their solid form, the baking soda and acid can't react, which is why the tablets don't fizz while they're in the package. But when the tablets are dropped in water, the baking soda and citric acid get together and fizz.

When this reaction happens inside of an Easter egg, the walls of the egg trap the gas inside. As the egg is filled with more and more gas, the pressure inside the egg increases. Eventually, the gas inside the egg pushes hard enough to make the egg pop open and launch!

plastic eggs

Construction Paper

wiggly eyes

fizzy tablets

water

Glue Stick

pencil (optional)

Easter Egg Rocket

easy experiment

Celebrate the 4th of July with a pop and a bang! These mini rockets are so easy to make and so fun to set off, you’ll want to launch them again and again. Parent supervision and eye protection are highly recommended for this project! Never point your pop-top rocket at yourself or anyone else. This project must be done outside.

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If your container has an attached lid, cut it off. This will help your rocket fly straighter.

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Decorate your rocket however you’d like! We added a nose cone, fins, and some shiny mylar flames.

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Fill your container one third of the way full with water. Then grab all of your materials and your safety glasses and head outside. You’re almost ready to launch! 

Important: put your safety glasses on now! This step happens fast, so you need to be ready before you start. Make sure you’re working on a smooth outdoor surface, away from any obstructions.

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Break off a small piece of the fizzy tablet and drop it into the water. Immediately snap the lid of your rocket container back on, then place it lid-side down on a smooth surface. Step back and watch it fly!

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You can launch your rocket again and again, so feel free to experiment! After our first launch, we were able to put the lid back on and get a second launch without adding more fizzy tablet. Or, when it runs out of fizz, just add more water and fizzy tablet and try again. Try using a larger or smaller piece of fizzy tablet and see what happens.

What’s going on?
To see what’s going on here, try dropping a fizzy tablet into clear glass of water and watch what happens. You’ll see the tablet immediately create lots of tiny bubbles that rise up to the surface of the water. Those bubbles are carbon dioxide gas, created by a chemical reaction between two ingredients in the tablets.&nbsp;
When that reaction takes place inside your pop-top rocket, the carbon dioxide gas has nowhere to go. More and more builds up inside your rocket until… pop! Eventually the pressure from the gas becomes too great and the pop-top seal lets go, sending your rocket shooting up into the air.

pop-top lid container

fizzy tablets (like Alka-Seltzer antacid)

Tape

safety goggles

Pop-Top Rockets

cardboard crafts

recycled

recycled craft materials

outdoor activities

space crafts

My son is always dreaming about flying to the moon in a rocket ship. With this fun and easy craft, we found a way to encourage his creative imagination while helping him see how everyday items can become something magical!

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We started building the top of our rocket first.  Jackson cut  a circle out of a piece of construction paper (about&nbsp;3" or 4" in diameter or 7.6-10.2 cm). Feel free to try different shapes, colors, and sizes--it's your rocket!

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Jackson cut a line into the center of the circle...

9 cool rocket projects for kids

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