3, 2, 1...Blastoff!

This weekend we celebrated the first manned American space launch in nine years!  It was originally planned for Wednesday but got delayed for weather reasons until Saturday.  This gave us some time to get together some fun ideas to make our weekend all about Space!  I did a little research online, looked through our books and supplies, and we came up with a plan.  I think everyone learned something new and we all enjoyed watching the successful launch. Here is what we did:

Friday: We started our space themed weekend on Friday night with a movie night.  There are a lot of space related movies out there, but we wanted something with some real history and science, not crazy sci-fi, and definitely not alien horror.  We settled on watching Apollo 13 because it was free on Stars, and fit our criteria.  Another good option is The Right Stuff, but we couldn't find that one for free anywhere and it's over three hours long. We knew Apollo 13 would be exciting and have a happy ending where nobody got hurt, so that's what we went with.  The kids actually got really into it.  We didn't tell them anything ahead of time so they weren't sure if the astronauts made it home.  It also garnered a lot of questions about America's space program, the astronauts, and computers.

Saturday: On Saturday we started off reading some books about space and rockets.  We have a set of books called "Questions Kids Ask".  Each one explores different topics.  We read the one with questions about space. It was the perfect length to read together and both kids learned something new, or was reminded of facts they'd learned a while ago.  Next we found Connor's Smithsonian rocket set and put it together.  It uses baking soda and vinegar as the propulsion.  It was tricky to get everything to go together and not spill out, so our first two attempts did not work, but it was still fun to put it together!  We made plans to try again the next day because it was getting close to launch time.  I got the kids together in the family room to watch the coverage while Brandon made some popcorn.  Then we all got to watch the successful launch of the Dragon, including our bearded dragon.  We figured she'd appreciate the event.

We used cardboard tubes and inserts from stocking packages.

After watching  the launch the kids were inspired to make their own rockets out of toilet paper and paper towel tubes.  They made them to have the toilet paper tube be the capsule with the astronauts and the paper towel tube as the engine that falls away.  Connor loved doing this craft and spent most of the rest of the day putting his action heroes in the rocket and having  a grand time blasting off.

We used hot glue to make the cone for the top
then cut it to the right size

Hot glued the cone to the toilet paper tube.

Next I cut a hole for action figures to sit in the rocket.

We added triangle pieces to the bottom as the fins.
We used hot glue to put them on.

Connor painted everything white.

Everything is painted, next we added stickers.

We cute out orange flames for the bottom of each part and glued them in.

The completed rocket. Connor named it the Bat and the Wing.

C

They came apart after launch.

That evening we watched the National Geographic documentary Mars: Inside SpaceX about SpaceX and their mission to build a rocket that could go to Mars. It was on Disney+.  Even though it was a documentary the kids paid good attention and were interested in the process to build the Falcon Heavy and the launch it showed.  It helped them better understand the historic launch we'd witnessed that afternoon.  We ate my attempt at galaxy brownies during the movie.  They were very tasty if not exactly galaxy looking.  Having made homemade brownies several times I kind of winged it on the recipe, but I will definitely make them again since there were none left!

Galaxy Brownies:
Ingredients-
1 stick butter                    3 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder     1 tbsp Vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour                    3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt                       1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips
handful of colored chocolate chips
and star sprinkles to create the galaxy

Butter and flour a 8x8" pan and set oven to 350 degrees.  I used a round cake pan because it's the only one small enough that I could find, but square is probably better. Beat softened butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla until creamy.  In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to the mixer slowly until incorporated.  Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. I used blue and white Frozen themed chocolate chips I had on hand, plus some red, purple, and pink melting chocolate wafers that I chopped up to sprinkle over the top of the batter. The idea was that they'd melt and create a swirly colorful galaxy on top of the baked brownies.  They didn't actually melt that well, but it still looked nice, and when I added the star sprinkles you could definitely tell what I was going for.  I baked them for 30 minutes and they came out fudgey and delicious.  They were still warm when we at them for dessert.
                 

Sunday: Sunday was a relaxed day with beautiful weather.  We didn't spend as much time on space adventures, but did have a great lesson on aerodynamics with paper airplanes.  The kids are supposed to design and create different models this week so that we can have a contest with them on Friday.  Categories will include most unusual, best looking, fastest, and farthest flyer.  We also decided to take advantage of the weather and have a Spring photoshoot for the kids.  Since school was cancelled they didn't get to take Spring pictures.  I didn't want them to miss a year, so we had our own.  They got a little dressed up, combed or curled hair, and we went for a walk to look for likely backgrounds.  There was a little whining about sun being in their eyes, but they mostly had fun picking their own poses and settings and we got a lot of good pictures using the portrait setting on my phone.

All in all it was a good weekend.  I think everyone will remember the launch, learned something about space exploration and the American Space Program,  and we have a yummy new brownie recipe!