Space Crafts for Kids

If you’ve been looking at the amazing pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope with your kids, it might be a good time to do some learning activities related to space.

There are so many great projects out there but here are a few to get you started.

Views from a Step Stool has a cute galaxy sensory bag that’s a great mess free way for babies and toddlers to get in on the space-related fun. Or if you have a laminator you can make a solar system I-spy bag like this one from Research Parent.

This galaxy snow globe DIY from Figment Creative Labs would be great to make with older kids (it’s basically a calm down jar/lava lamp, which kids of all ages need!) Or make galaxy jars with this tutorial from Mom Dot.

And of course we need some galaxy play dough! This recipe is from The Imagination Tree. (Warning from personal experience, black food coloring is MESSY.)

These marbled planets from Everyday Chaos and Calm are so fun and easy to make and you can use them to talk about the gas giants.

3 Boys and a Dog has a great set of scaled planet printables you can use to show the relative sizes of the planets. Kids can color them in and use them in projects.

These pipe cleaner constellations are a fun way to talk about the shapes people have seen in the stars, and they can make up their own constellations, too. Get the printables from 123 Homeschool 4 Me. Views from a Step Stool also has some good printable constellation activity pack with coloring pages, cards, a research page for kids to fill in as they learn about a constellation and more.

Add some fizzy fun to your space exploration with the erupting moon rocks from Learn Play Imagine.

When you’re talking about space you need a rocket ship! Arty Crafty Kids has a printable kids can decorate — and use to practice their cutting skills. And Highlights has a tutorial for a simple play telescope.

Talk of space often includes talk of aliens, so why not make a cute alien spacecraft like the one from Rainy Day Mum? Or some cardboard tube aliens, tutorial from Fun Family Crafts?

My daughter has always liked math, which is a relief to me as someone who never really got math when I was growing up. (As a knitter I use math a lot now and have managed to learn what I need, but not much else.)

For kids who aren’t fans of math who could use a little encouragement and understanding of what math is for, there’s Dear Math, We’re Not Friends by Lina Chopra Haldar with illustrations by Teresa Martinez.

Nikil starts school not liking math and his teacher has him write letters to math. He complains that math makes his tummy hurt but thinks it’s funny when his teacher says talking about shapes and drawing are part of math.

As the year goes on he learns about skip counting, counting backwards, fractions and the special names for different shapes. When he learns about octagons he starts seeing them everywhere. He discovers that math is part of being an astronaut and an artist, two things he might like to be when he grows up.

Math helps him with soccer and helps bees make honey, and he uses it in his art projects, too. In the end he decides that math really is his friend because it helps you make things and understand the world around you.

The book is cute and has full illustrations that literally show math in different environments. It also includes a page about the inspiration for the story and why the author, a math teacher herself, wanted to write a book addressing math anxiety. It has prompts kids can use to write their own letters to math or use in discussions about math, as well as other ideas to help kids feel more confident about math.

This would be a good book for math teachers and others to have on hand for those kids who don’t love math or see a purpose for it outside of the classroom. The target reader is ages 5-8.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Beaming Books. Suggested retail price $19.99.

Have you read?

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