Total Time 1 hour Ages preschooler
Help Buzz travel "to infinity and beyond" with this rocket ship-shaped "star globe." Preschoolers will love watching a galaxy of shimmering stars swirling inside their rockets.
by Miranda Becker
What you'll need
- Clean, dry baby food jars
- Cardstock in assorted colors
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
- String or yarn
- Tacky glue
- Hot glue
- Glycerin (purchased from pharmacy)
- Distilled water
- Star-shaped confetti
- Stickers, stamps, markers or other embellishments
Notes:
When you are ready to shake your rocket, be sure to hold it by the jar "globe" and not by the cardstock base or nose.
How to make it
- For the rocket base: Cut a strip of cardstock that is as wide as your jar is tall. Wrap the cardstock strip snugly around the jar. Now, mark with pencil where the paper overlaps. Remove the baby food jar and place a line of tacky glue along the edge of the paper strip. Glue the paper at mark, making a tube. This tube is the base of your rocket. Make sure that the tube is narrow enough and sturdy enough that the bottom edge of the jar rests on top of the tube without falling through.
- For the cone-shaped nose: Tie a pencil to the end of a piece of yarn. With pencil attached, measure the circumference of the jar with the yarn. Snip the yarn so that it is the same length as the circumference. You will use the yarn and pencil like a compass to make a half-circle. The end of the yarn will be your center-point. Place the end of the yarn along the edge of a piece of cardstock. Hold it in place with your pointer finger. Stretch the yarn and pencil out tight and draw a half circle around the center-point. Cut out the half circle and roll it into a cone. Use tacky glue to secure.
- Cut 3 fins from the remaining cardstock. These can be any shape you like. Triangles and crescent shapes work well. Cut them a little bit wide so that they can be folded and glued to the base using tacky glue.
- Kids should decorate their rockets using craft foam, stickers, markers and stamps. Help your child stamp his name, or a fun Buzz-inspired message on his rocket.
- For the star-globe (this is a grown-up's job): Fill a baby food jar with distilled water. Add a few drops of glycerin and a few pinches of star confetti. Close the jar tight and place a thin line of hot glue around the lip and seam of the lid so that water can't escape. Let the jar dry completely.
- Connecting the globe to the rocket is also a grown-up's job. For the base, draw a thin line of hot glue around the bottom rim of the baby food jar. Place the glued bottom-rim of the jar onto the base. If the jar is not secure use more hot glue inside the base to attach the rim to the edge of the base. For the nose, draw a thin line of hot glue around the top edge of the lid of the baby food jar. Place the cone on top of the lid and secure. Let the rocket cool and dry.
