Young students will love to play with a handmade rocket toy, which will resemble an actual rocket like astronomers send into space. Coat a paper towel tube with a thin layer of craft glue. Wrap colored construction paper around the tube, any color. Pick which end of the tube will be the top and which end will be the bottom. Cut a 2-inch slit into the bottom of the tube, making sure that the slit spans across the entire bottom. Cut a 2-inch triangle out of construction paper, any color. Slip the triangle, point first, into the slit in the bottom of the tube. This will be the bottom of the rocket. Cut out a 4-inch circle out of construction paper, any color. Cut 2-inches in the circle from the outside toward the middle. Overlap the cut area, creating a cone. Tape the cut edge so that the cone stays in place. Glue the cone to the top of the tube. Once dry, the rocket is complete.
You can teach students about the organization of the solar system by showing them how to create a planet mobile. Cut out an 8-inch circle from cardboard. Using a pen, draw nine circles onto the cardboard, allowing the circles to get larger every time you draw one. Poke a hole in the center of the cardboard. Poke a hole in each of the drawn circles, placing the hole anywhere on the circles. This will represent the different planetary orbits around the sun. Cut 10 pieces of string, each around 8-inches long. Insert one of the strings into each of the holes, taping the ends of the strings onto the top of the cardboard to secure it. Draw each of the planets and the sun onto paper then cut them out. Make sure to include all of the planets, including Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Attach the sun to the end of the string attached to the middle of the cardboard. Attach the planets to the ends of the strings in the order listed above, starting from the middle and working outward. Tape a piece of twine to the middle of the cardboard to use for hanging up the planet mobile.
Making a hand-print sun can be a great supplement for young students learning about the sun. Paint the front of a paper plate yellow then allow it to dry. Place your hand onto yellow construction paper and trace around it. Repeat this nine more times until you have 10 hand prints. Cut out the hand prints. Glue the hand prints at the palm around the rim of the paper plate. Allow the glue to dry completely before displaying the hand print sun.