Blast Off!

Who doesn't love to run around with a ROCKET? This rocket can be made from things you probably already have around the house.

Materials Needed:
- emptied out Pringles container, paper towel roll, or even a toilet paper roll could work (Pringles containers or a harder cardboard will be more durable. I used a paper towel roll in these pictures.)
- tape
- aluminum foil
- stickers
- colored paper
- scissors
- glue
- colored tissue paper
- piece of cardstock/tagboard

Directions:
1. Cut a half circle out of tagboard (size depends on what roll you're using... my circle was about 2 inches in diameter). Tape the circle to the top of the paper towel roll to make a point.


2. Stick tape or glue all over the paper towel roll (I used tape because it was less messy). Roll aluminum foil around the paper towel roll and around the pointy top.

3. Cover the rocket with stickers. These will also help hold the aluminum foil on the rocket if you stick some on the foil creases. You can also let your child go wild with markers and color the foil if you want.

4. Cut out some strips of paper from red/white/blue paper and glue them around the rocket. We didn't have the exact right colors, so we modified it a bit. The glue didn't hold too well, so we also used a little tape to secure the strips.

5. Fly the rocket around the room for a little bit.

5. Come back and add flames so that the rocket has some power. Scrunch up big pieces of tissue paper and stick them up the roll. You can use glue/tape to secure the paper to the inside if you want.

6. Fly the rocket around some more.

7. Let it launch and watch it crash to the ground!

This project was very loved and was squished and mangled pretty quickly.

Grade: B+

The finished product was awesome, but the project required a good amount of parental help. A patient toddler is needed for this project. The most fun steps for my little guy were sticking the stickers on, stuffing the fire inside the rocket, and rolling the foil onto the rocket (with help). A parent needs to do most of the gluing/taping for this one. Next time I would have my son decorate the foil with stickers and markers before we rolled it onto the paper towel roll.

Language Development:
Craft vocabulary words can easily be taught with this activity- cut, scissors, glue, tape, foil, paper, stickers, etc.

Other words/concepts you could introduce as you make and play with the rocket could include: soar, fly, high, low, tall, up, down, fast, slow, crash (my son's favorite), around, through, under, over, etc.

Idea from The Best of the Mailbox- Arts and Crafts Preschool