As students find themselves out of school and we find ourselves confined to our homes, we must look outside the physical classroom to find methods to foster a deep passion in space and astronomy. While DreamUp has a number of activities, curricula, and products to bring space into your home, we’re also sharing this list of like-minded organizations sharing resources and activities for anyone wishing to immerse themselves in an educational outer space experience. There are activities for every knowledge level and age, including many that require little to no materials at home. Make the most of your time indoors and explore outer space from home!
Space Foundation Discovery Centre – While the Space Foundation’s Discovery Center is closed, you can explore online using their collection of video lessons, STEM lesson plans, and daily webinars for students. These activities target students from K-12 and include small one day activities to multiple week research projects on a variety of topics related to space exploration. All of the content is available as free downloads, and live webinars are also free to join.
Space Place NASA – NASA Science shares educational games, crafts, activities, and videos on topics in five main areas: Earth, Sun, Solar System, Universe, and Science and Technology. It also includes a page for parents and educators, with links to even more sources of space experiments and activities for kids.
Jet Propulsion Lab Education (NASA) – Find even more educational activities from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, including numerous educational activities, resources, and contests related to outer space for grades K-12. JPL’s activities include videos, games, family activities, labs, and much more on every subtopic related to the science and engineering of outer space. All of the resources are free and provide a detailed breakdown of required materials and instructions.
European Space Agency (ESA) Kids – ESA Kids is full of resources, media, and activities including competitions and build-your-own challenges. Everything is free to access and available in several European languages.
Space Station Explorers – Space Station Explorers is a consortium of companies and organizations (including DreamUp) that provide educational opportunities relating to the International Space Station. Their website contains several activities and lesson plans optimized for a learn-at-home environment, covering a wide range of topics in space. With activities for primary, middle, and high school, there are a variety of options to choose from for any student. Lesson plans often have an accompanying video. Check out this blog post for even more learn-at-home activities and experiences.
Fizzics Education – This Australian company provides several free space science projects requiring a minimal amount of accessible materials. All activities come with picture-guided instructions and often videos explaining the science behind the experiments.
Education.com – This curation of science fair-oriented projects includes space-themed projects for Kindergarten to 5th graders. Each project is broken down in significant detail including materials, procedure, and further applications. All resources are also available for free download.
McDonald Observatory – Parents can bring these classroom style activities home, utilizing resources covering dozens of topics within astronomy, physics, and chemistry. Activities range from K-12 and come with a full description and list of materials.
Spaceschool.ca – Developed by a Canadian educator, this website contains a wide assortment of activities and resources for space education for any level of schooling. It includes a number of videos as well as a number of lessons on subthemes within space education.
Sally Ride EarthKAM – Sally Ride EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students) is a NASA education outreach program that enables students, teachers, and the public to learn about Earth from the unique perspective of space.
Spot the Station – Use this website from NASA to find live International Space Station tracking and sighting opportunities.
Science Buddies – This nonprofit has a number of astronomy-related science fair projects, easily adapted for home use, with varying levels of difficulty and appealing to elementary, middle, and high school students.
