Simple and Easy Rocket Craft and Experiment
One of our favourite themes for kids is out of this world and we love activities and crafts about. It’s Space! The final frontier! So this simple space activity and craft is great to do with kids of all ages. Why not get them to make their own rocket and then experiment with how far they can get it to go!
Featured Book “This is Rocket Science”
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Hello, my name is Emma and I write the blog Science Sparks. Cerys kindly invited me to take part in space week today so I can tell you all about my brand new book, This Is Rocket Science!!
This Is Rocket Science contains 70 exciting and hands-on activities designed to help children understand how a rocket is able to blast off into space, how astronauts cope with some of the difficulties of living in space and also takes you on a tour of the solar system learning about the incredible distances involved and features of each planet. My children and I had a fantastic time creating the activities in the book, so I hope you love them as much as we do.
This squeezy bottle rocket activity is taken from the Tricky Trajectory chapter of This Is Rocket Science. Did you know that after the initial vertical path upwards rockets turn so they are on the correct path to enter orbit around the Earth. This means their overall trajectory is a curved path, not the vertical path you might have expected.
Looking for more Space Themed Books to read and enjoy with your children check out our list of recommendation ideal for extending this activity further.
Rocket Craft and Experiment – Squeezy Bottle Rocket
These easy to build rockets are perfect for investigating how the angle a rocket is launched from affects its flight.
How do they work?
When you squeeze the bottle air is forced out of the straw in the bottle and pushes against the rocket straw ( which is sealed at one end ). The force of air on the rocket straw makes it fly through the air.
Materials need for your Rocket Investigation
- Empty Squeezy water bottles with a sports cap
- Cardboard
- Straws – one wider than another
- Scissors
- Glue/sellotape
- Blu tack or Plasticine
Instructions on making your Rocket Launder to Investigate How Rocket’s Blast Off Into Space
Bottle Launching Device
Lift up the sports cap of your bottle and push in half of your thinner straw. Seal around the straw and sports cap with blu tack or plasticine.
Squeeze the bottle and make sure air is coming out of the top of the straw ONLY, not from the sides.
Straw Rocket
Draw and cut out a cardboard or paper rocket.
Seal one end of your wider straw using sellotape. This straw must fit over the top of your thinner straw. Blow down the straw and make sure no air can escape from the top.
Attach your card or paper rocket onto one side of the straw with double sided tape.
Place the rocket onto your bottle launcher and squeeze the bottle hard. Your straw rocket should shoot into the air.
Extending your Activity Further
Try launching your rocket at different angles and measure how far it travels each time. Remember to try to use the same squeezing force for each launch to make your investigation a fair test.
Try adding extra weight to the straw rocket by adding a small amount of plasticine or a paperclip to the end. What do you think will happen?
Learning Points
You should find that your straw rocket flies farther if you launch at an angle rather than straight up. This is because of gravity and the forward force created by the rocket launcher act together to create a curved flight path.
More Space and Rocket Themed Activities for Kids
FREE Printable Space Counting Clip Cards for Toddlers & Preschoolers
Emma from Science Sparks
Emma is a busy mum to four children and creator of Science Sparks, a website full of easy, hands-on and exciting science activities and investigations.
When she’s not blogging Emma is usually driving her children to gymnastics or swimming!