A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… there was an awesome space adventure between an astronaut and an alien! This week, we have not just one – but TWO – super fun and super creative DIY projects for you and your little space explorer! Especially awesome with more than one kid (or even for parents to join the fun!), where one of you plays an alien and the other plays an astronaut, anything can happen – it’s time to let your imagination shoot for the moon! The sky’s the limit with these DIY Astronaut Helmet Cutouts and Alien Eyes Headbands – and lucky for you, we’ve broken it down so they’re not rocket science to make from scratch.
Astronaut Helmet Cutout
What you’ll need
- Piece of cardboard
- Note: Make sure this is large enough to encircle the face of whoever is wearing it.
- Also, it helps with the painting process if this cardboard piece happens to be white.
- Box cutter
- Need we mention? Adults only with this one!
- Paintbrush
- Paint
- If your cardboard is brown, make sure you have a good white color handy to paint the base.
- Glue gun
- Need we mention? Adults only here, too!
How to make
- Lightly sketch out on the cardboard piece as big of a circle you’ll need to fit the face of whoever’s wearing it.
- Lightly sketch out a larger circle a few inches out around that circle.
- You can get creative with your own interpretation here! If you’re not as creative, don’t worry – we have this printable (12″ x 12″) as a reference that you can use!
- Parents only! Cut out around the circles you’ve made, on the inside and the outside, leaving you with a large ring.
- Paint your best astronaut helmet onto the cardboard piece, with as much detail as you can imagine.
- We used a white base with different shades of blue, but the sky’s the limit here!
- Allow paint to dry before moving on.
- While using a glue gun (or adhesive of your choice), attach the handle to the bottom of the mask.
- Note: if your cardboard was brown when you started, make sure you also paint this piece white to match the helmet!
- Helmets on – it’s time for takeoff!
Alien eyes headband
What you’ll need
- Cardstock paper
- We used green and off white, but get as creative as you want! The more kids you have to play with, the more options of aliens you can have.
- Pipe cleaners
- Make sure you use colors that match your card stock. For this DIY, we used green.
- Plastic headband
- Ribbon
- Make sure the ribbon matches the rest of your supplies!
- Scissors
- Adults only!
- Glue gun (or other adhesive)
- Adults only!
- Optional accessories: glitter, fuzzballs or large google eyes.
How to make
- Wrap ribbon around the headband.
- Add occasional drops of hot glue as need to keep in place, especially at the beginning and the end of the ribbon around the edges
- Allow the glue on the headband to dry.
- Twist pipe cleaners around the top of the headband and bend to stand straight up for the eyes, then set aside.
- Time to make the eyes! Cut out a large circle from the white card stock and a smaller circle from the colored card stock.
- Place the smaller circle on top of the white card stock and adhere together.
- This step can be done using tape. If using glue, allow to dry before moving on.
- Use hot glue to adhere eyes to the top of the pipe cleaners on the headband.
- Optional: stick on fun accessories such as glitter, fuzzballs or even googly eyes!
- Time for warp speed!
Helpful Hints
Make sure you store both of these projects in a flat place so they don’t get bent before the next time you’re ready for lift-off. Or, if your little one especially loves all things space adventure, you can hang them up in his or her room as a decoration before the next time they’re ready to explore the galaxy. As always, just in case, make sure to craft more than just one set with all the extra supplies you’ll have – especially if your little astronaut usually tends to have exceptionally rowdy adventures! Having a space-themed party? These are perfect for party favors, play accessories or even as a fun craft to do during the party. If playing indoors or at night use glow in the dark paint to go along with the theme of our Glow in the Dark Space Capsule!
Glow-in-the-Dark Space Capsule
We love giving you DIYs that can be done in our tents, and lucky for you, our Glow-in-the-Dark Space Capsule has plenty of room to get the job done! At 56” x 43” x 35”, it is one of our largest tunnels and only one of a few D-Shape tunnels. The waterproof floor and the “Ultra-Mesh” windows (which let the air in and keep the bugs out) allows you to take it outside to play, or you can set it up in the house as an indoor launch pad! Make sure you turn off all the lights to gaze at the glow-in-the-dark stars, and for some more fun indoor uses for this Glow-in-the-Dark Space Capsule, make sure you check out this post.
You won’t be calling Houston with any problems while they’re in our tent tunnel, because this spaceship was made to be totally durable. Quality is our biggest concern, so you can rest easy with our Super Poles™ that are patented for safety (they won’t break or shatter!), the double stitched seams along stress points for extra reinforcement and the radius-cut hook and loop tabs, which mean you won’t be getting any cuts or scrapes in outer space! It’s super easy to set up – as well as fold up – and it also comes complete with a sturdy carrying bag for convenient travel and storage for whenever your little astronauts have landed back on earth.
Let us know!
Did you make the Astronaut Helmet Cutout and the Alien Eyes Headband, or happen to explore space in the Glow-in-the-Dark Space Capsule? Let us know how they turned out in the comments below, as well as any other space crafts you might know of!