ASTRONAUTS PARTY
This document describes how you can put together an astronauts party at your library using the
resources on the website http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/.
DESCRIPTION
Have you ever thought about being an astronaut? Come learn more about the how to become an astronaut and
what life is like in space. View photos of Mars in 3-D, make a rocket, try on some moon shoes, and taste some
astronaut food. You will find out if traveling in space is really for you. (Note that you may need to edit or rewrite
the event description based on what you decide to do.)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Read and familiarize yourself with each of the handout fact/coloring sheets on the website
http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/ before the event and have your volunteers do so as well. The important
concepts to convey to event participants are all discussed on the sheets.
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To become an astronaut you need good grades and good physical health.
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Life in space is tricky. From eating, to washing, to going to the bathroom – it is all
different than on Earth.
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Someday astronauts may go to Mars to search for signs of life.
ACTIVITIES
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Storytime
Family reading corner
“Searching for Aliens” fact/coloring sheet
Mars 3-D computer station (with hematite rocks to hand out)
Make a rocket
Try out moon shoes
“Mars Adventure” computer game
Try astronaut ice cream
MATERIALS / DIRECTIONS
Astronaut for a Day by DK Publishing
3-D glasses
Magnetic hematite beads
Moon shoes (ideally 2 pairs)
Straws
Tape
Astronaut ice cream
Rocket materials (there are many choices about what kind of rocket to make, see details below for materials
lists)
Crayons
Story time — Astronaut for a Day (or you can substitute it with one you like better from your collection)
Mars 3-D — 3-D glasses, magnetic hematite beads
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Download the Mars 3-D PowerPoint presentation from http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/
onto a computer. Decide whether you want to present the photos to a group on a projected
screen or whether you want people to self-guide themselves through the presentation at a
computer station. Figure out how you want to distribute hematite beads. They are similar
to the hematite “blueberry” sized beads shown at the end of the Mars 3-D slide show. You
might want to hand them out the Mars 3-D station or pass them out as people leave. Note
that there is info about the hematite beads on the Astronauts on Mars? fact sheet found at
http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/.
Moon shoes — two pairs of shoes set for different weights, chairs for people to sit in while putting on the shoes,
obstacle course or path to follow while in the shoes
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Put together the moon shoes before the party. The shoes require different numbers of
rubber bands to hold people of different weights. Check the directions and set up on pair
of shoes for small kids and set up the other pair for really big kids and smaller adults.
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For the moon shoes activity you can set up an obstacle course for people to go through.
Make a rocket —
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Straw rocket: rocket template from http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/ on paper, straws,
tape, scissors
Directions: Decide whether you want to cut the rocket templates out before the event or
you can make the participants cut their own out. Give each person one cutout rectangle
with a rocket image on it. Have them roll the strip over a straw. Tape the rocket paper
around the straw. Fold the paper at the top of the straw over four times and then tape it to
the rocket. Put the rocket over a straw, then blow into the straw to shoot the rocket. Try
having people shoot vertically and horizontally.
High power paper rocket: bicycle pump with pressure gauge or small electric
compressor, stack of 8 ½ x 11 paper (white or colored), cellophane tape, ruler, protractor,
scissors, ½” PVC pipe 24” long, see handout on http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/ for
detailed instructions
Foam rocket: 30 cm-long piece of polyethylene foam pipe insulation (for 1/2” size pipe),
rubber band (size 64), styrofoam food tray, three 8” plastic cable wraps, 75 cm of
ordinary string, scissors, meter stick, press tack, washer or nut, quadrant plans printed on
card stock, masking tape, 1 tape measure, see handout on http://eu.montana.edu/starparty/
for detailed instructions
“Living in Space” & “Astronauts on Mars?” fact / coloring sheets — fact sheets & crayons
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Put out crayons and encourage kids to color the backs of the fact sheets. Ideally
volunteers can discuss the facts highlighted on the sheets with kids while they color.
Astronaut ice cream
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Depending on how many participants you have you might want to break the ice cream up
into smaller pieces and give it to people on plates so several people can eat from one ice
cream pack.
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You can either give people the astronaut ice cream and tell them what it is, or it might be
fun to have them taste it and guess what kind of food it is supposed to be.
APPROXIMATE COST
@$100
Cost of some of the items:
astronaut ice cream $1.70/each
moon shoes @$30/pair
anaglyph (red and blue) 3-D glasses 40 cents each
10mm magnetic hematite beads (strand of 40 beads) $5.90
COMPUTER WEBSITES
Mars Adventure
Load your spacecraft with things that would be good to take on a long voyage to Mars. You can choose 10 items
and you only have 10 minutes to load the ship.
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/mars_rocket2.shtml