Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1
Gather your materials.
Step 2
Spray paint your bottles. It may take a few coats for bottles made of colored plastic.
Step 3
Make your straps. We stuck two pieces of duct tape together to make our straps, but you could also use yarn, ribbon or felt!
Step 4
Tape your bottles together with a band of duct tape. (Optional: A few dots of hot glue can be added between the bottles for extra stability!)
Step 5
Attach one end of your straps to the back of the bottle with duct tape. Call over your little astronaut to measure out how long the straps need to be, then secure the other end of your straps using duct tape.
Step 6
Make your flames. Cut several pieces of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper, and attach to the insides of the bottle openings using more duct tape (or hot glue)!
Step 7
Add additional decorations! We added a star using silver duct tape. You can also get creative and add some control panels to the straps!
Step 8
Learn more
While jet packs aren’t currently in use by NASA astronauts, in 1984 NASA tested out a device they called a Manned Maneuvering Unit. It had two aluminum tanks full of nitrogen that astronauts could use to propel themselves in space!
Image courtesy of NASA.