Space STEM Activities for Kids With Simple Family Projects

Space STEM activities can start with paper, tape and one good question. Can a paper lander stay upright? How could you show Earth and the Moon moving without pretending your model is the real size? The projects below give families a practical way to build, compare and explain—not just decorate something with stars.

Quick start: choose one activity, gather its materials and let your child make a prediction. Try it, record what actually happened and change one feature before trying again. You do not need a telescope or a purchased kit.

A real research story, with a much simpler family starting point

In a story published October 26, 2026 and updated October 27, NASA described summer research by its SEES interns. The program serves students in grades 11–12. One team used public mission information and computer models to study when fuel measurements could be useful during a lunar mission. This was a report about student research, not an announcement that a new spacecraft had launched. Read NASA's SEES research story.

The family connection is the habit of asking a clear question and explaining the evidence. The activities here are original WonderKidsToy family adaptations, not NASA-certified lessons, internship exercises or NASA-endorsed toy recommendations. They are deliberately much simpler than the students' research.

Choose one question, not a whole afternoon of projects

• For a child who likes building: compare two paper landers.
• For a child who likes explaining: move paper labels to show which object orbits which.
• For a child who notices visual changes: trace indoor shadows.
• For a child who likes puzzles: plan a route across an imaginary lunar map.

Have an adult choose materials, supervise the activity and handle any cutting the child cannot manage safely. Keep small scraps away from children who mouth objects and clear a stable work area. The adaptations below describe ways to change the task; they are not age ratings for products.

Start with an invitation: “What do you think will happen?” A drawing, a spoken answer or a gesture can be enough. If your child loses interest, save the unfinished work and stop. Completing every activity is not the goal.

1. Compare two paper-lander designs

Question: does changing the shape of the feet change how often our paper lander finishes upright?

Materials: paper or lightweight card, tape, a ruler, a pencil and child-appropriate scissors used with adult help. Use paper only for the lander; do not add coins, stones, food or small toy passengers.

1. Make a small, shallow tray from a square of paper. Fold up four edges and tape the corners. This is the lander's body.
2. Make a second tray from the same kind and size of paper. Try to keep the two bodies alike.
3. Cut eight equal paper strips. Fold four into simple L-shaped feet and four into short zigzag feet. Tape one set evenly beneath each tray, checking that each lander can stand before testing.
4. On a clear floor, mark a landing area on a sheet of paper. An adult holds the first lander about 10 centimeters above it and releases it without pushing. Stay on the floor; do not climb onto furniture.
5. Record “upright,” “on its side” or “upside down.” Repeat three times, then test the other design from the same height on the same surface.
6. Choose one change to try next. For example, widen the feet on one design while leaving its body and release height unchanged.

Look closely: did a foot bend, did the tray tip, or did the lander bounce? Describe the result before deciding which design you prefer. One upright landing is not enough to show that a design always works.

Make it simpler: an adult builds and releases the models; the child points to a drawing showing how each one landed. Add a challenge: give both models the same allowance of paper and tape, sketch the designs and compare several attempts.

What the model leaves out: this is a paper stability test in Earth's conditions. It does not reproduce lunar gravity, a spacecraft's engines or its landing system. NASA also publishes a separate astronaut-lander activity with its own materials and instructions; the paper-only version above is our independent family project.

2. Show an orbit relationship without claiming true scale

Question: how can we show the Moon going around Earth while Earth goes around the Sun?

Materials: a large sheet of paper, three large paper labels and crayons or pencils. No pins, string, hanging mobiles or small beads are needed.

1. Write “Sun,” “Earth” and “Moon” on the labels. Different colors can make the labels easier to follow.
2. Place the Sun label near the middle of the large sheet and draw a broad path around it. Leave room to move the Earth label along that path.
3. Pause Earth at one point. Move the Moon label around Earth, keeping the labels separate.
4. Move Earth a little farther along its path, carrying the Moon label to the new neighborhood. Again, move the Moon around Earth.
5. Ask your child to explain both relationships. Write “not to scale; movements simplified” prominently on the sheet.

Earth orbits the Sun, and the Moon orbits Earth. NASA's Earth facts and Moon facts provide the real-world reference. Our labels show those relationships, not accurate sizes, distances, speeds or paths.

Look closely: which relationship is easy to see in this model? Which information is missing? Moving the labels by hand does not explain the forces that keep bodies in orbit, and a flat paper diagram should not be used to predict an eclipse.

Make it simpler: use only Earth and Moon first. Add a challenge: draw a second picture showing how you would change the model to communicate size or distance more honestly. Explain why fitting everything onto one sheet creates compromises.

If your child wants a reusable model afterward, our solar-system kit guide separates model selection from hands-on activities and discusses the limits of scale.

3. Trace shadows with an indoor light

Question: what changes when the light moves but the paper object stays still?

Materials: paper, a pencil, tape, a ruler and an ordinary cool-running flashlight controlled by an adult. Skip this activity if you do not have a suitable light. Do not use a laser, a hot lamp, a magnifying glass or a high-powered light.

1. Fold a rectangle of card into an L shape so that one part stands upright. Tape its flat base to a large sheet of paper.
2. In a normally lit room, have an adult shine the flashlight across the upright card toward the paper. Keep the beam away from everyone's eyes.
3. Trace the shadow and label it A. Mark where the object sits so that it stays in place.
4. Have the adult raise the light on the same side while keeping its horizontal distance from the object as similar as possible. Trace this shadow in another color and label it B.
5. Compare length and direction. Return the light to its first position and see whether you can produce a similar shadow again.

Look closely: are the edges crisp enough to trace? If not, record that limitation rather than inventing a precise measurement. Notice whether other room lights make a second shadow.

Make it simpler: compare the outlines by pointing to the longer one. Add a challenge: measure both shadows from the card's base, record the unit and explain which light position was harder to repeat.

Keep the model honest: this demonstrates a shadow changing with light direction. It is not a model of lunar temperatures or a complete explanation of Moon phases.

No Sun viewing is part of this activity. Keep it indoors. Never substitute looking at the Sun through a telescope or binoculars; eclipse glasses do not make unfiltered optics safe. See NASA's solar-viewing safety guidance for the separate precautions involved in solar observation.

4. Plan a paper rover route

Question: can you reach a destination using a clear set of instructions and avoiding the marked obstacles?

Materials: squared paper, or plain paper ruled into a large grid, and two colored pencils.

1. Draw a six-by-six grid. Mark a start square, a destination and a few blocked squares representing imaginary craters. Leave at least one connected route between start and finish.
2. Agree that a move goes one square up, down, left or right. Diagonal moves are not allowed in this game.
3. Plan a route in pencil without crossing a blocked square. Write its moves as words or arrows.
4. Ask another person to follow only those instructions, tracing the route with the second color. If the route goes wrong, find the first instruction that needs changing.
5. Make a second route and compare the number of moves. Which would you choose under your rules, and why?

Look closely: did the instructions work for someone who could not read your mind? A shorter route is not automatically better in real exploration, where scientists must consider other constraints. Here, the rules are invented so that the problem stays manageable.

Make it simpler: use a smaller grid and trace the route together before writing directions. Add a challenge: add a science-stop square that must be visited, then replan. Label the page “imaginary map,” not a map of an actual lunar landing site.

This is an unplugged instruction-planning game. It does not turn a physical solar-powered toy into a programmable robot.

Turn any one activity into a small research notebook

A notebook can be one folded sheet. Give each attempt a short entry:

• Our question: what are we trying to find out?
• Our prediction: what do we think might happen?
• We changed: name one feature.
• We kept the same: name the conditions you tried to hold steady.
• We noticed: draw or describe the actual result.
• Next time: choose a change or a question.

Keep predictions separate from results. “I thought it would stand” and “it tipped twice” can both be true. If a trial goes differently, look for a changed release height, a bent foot or an unclear instruction before deciding that someone did it wrong.

Children can dictate to an adult, draw, or use short labels. These projects offer opportunities to practice comparing and explaining; they do not promise a particular developmental result.

Choose an optional next step that matches the question

A purchase is not needed to repeat these activities. If the next question is about how light powers movement, our solar-robot explainer covers a separate hands-on activity. Check the actual product's age guidance, assembly needs and operating instructions; a solar robot is not automatically a coding kit or an accurate solar-system model.

For more official educational resources rather than shopping advice, browse NASA JPL's family STEM activities. Each activity has its own intended audience, supplies and safety needs.

Questions parents ask

What makes a space craft a STEM activity?

A space theme alone is decoration. A specific question, a model or test, and a chance to discuss observations give the craft a clearer STEM purpose. For example, comparing two lander feet asks more than making a single model look like a spacecraft.

Can younger children join in?

They can participate in an adult-led version that matches their readiness, such as choosing colors, pointing to a result or describing a drawing. Adults should handle cutting and test setup as needed. Do not give small pieces to children who mouth objects, and follow any supplied materials' age guidance.

Do we need to know the correct result first?

You need a safe setup and an honest explanation of the model, not a rehearsed outcome. Let observations decide what happened in your test. Use a reliable reference for astronomy facts, and say when your paper model cannot answer a question.

Are these the activities the NASA interns completed?

No. The SEES story concerned advanced high-school research using mission information and computer models. These are separate family projects created by WonderKidsToy. They are not NASA-endorsed, and completing them is not a qualification for the internship.

Finish with one observation worth sharing

Ask your child to show one thing they changed and one thing they noticed. A bent paper foot, a revised route or a model labeled “not to scale” can start a useful conversation. Keep the materials and the question simple enough that there is room to try again.