Space Party Games and Activities

Using the theme of a “space-training mission,” you can put your young astronauts through a host of challenging space tasks. Start by giving them their trainee kit when they arrive at the party.

Astronaut Trainee Kit
This doesn’t have to cost a lot. Buy paper painter caps at the dollar store or hardware store, or order them online. Decorate them with space mission stickers. You can also decorate matching armbands or wristlets made from craft foam and stick-on Velcro. Another idea is to create official NASA ID badges. Print them out and have them laminated at an office supply store. Punch a hole in the top and thread through black or red or blue ribbon so they can wear them around their necks.
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If money is not an issue we recommend the Astronaut Space Jetpacks which are limited edition and look really awesome! Once the astronauts have been kitted out, you can set them on some space training tasks:

Moon rock relay
You will need small rocks spray-painted silver, two small buckets and two large spoons for this two-team relay. Let the astronaut trainees know that they must collect moon rock samples to bring back to earth. Each team must take a large spoon
and scoop one rock from their pile, carry it to a bucket at the other end of the room and drop it in the bucket. If they drop the rock at any time, they must go back to the beginning. The team that manages to drop all their rocks in the bucket first wins!

Meteor hunt
Scrunch up sheets of black, grey or silver tissue to create tight balls. Hide the balls all over the room, and in other rooms or outdoors if you don’t mind letting the kids roam. Let the astronaut trainees know that they must locate the meteors hidden around the room and “neutralize them” (drop them in their team bucket) before they reach earth. Tell them how many meteors need to be destroyed so they know how many to look for. Divide the kids into two teams, and have each team race to find as many balls as they call. Tape two sheets of paper to the wall and mark off how many balls each team finds as they drop them in their bucket. The team that neutralizes the most meteors wins a prize (a small toy for each team member). Give the runner-up team members a smaller prize, such as packets of candy.

Exploration-pod landing
You’ll need a bit of room for this game, so if possible, play it outdoors. Mark out three concentric rings, with the biggest ring being about six feet in diameter, the second being about four feet and the middle ring being about one and a half feet. You can mark the circles out with tape, or if you can find big enough sheets of paper, cut each circle out of a different colored sheet and lay them one on top of another. (You may find that cheap paper tablecloths work for this.) You’ll also need a mini Frisbee or regular-sized Frisbee if you can’t find the small version. You can use a Sharpie pen and stickers to make it look more like a spacecraft if you like. Let the trainee astronauts know that they must land the space shuttle exploration pod accurately on the lunar surface. Standing 10 feet away from the outer circle, each child will toss the Frisbee and try to hit the center circle. Landing on the outer circle nets them 5 points, the middle circle nets them 10 and landing on the center circle gives them 20 points. Write down each child’s score and give out prizes for first, second and third place. Give the other participants small treats of stickers or candy.

Whack-an-alien
If you can find inexpensive foam noodles at the toystore or dollar store, this is a great game to play. Make simple headbands out of construction paper or craft foam. Use sets of Velcro stickers to adhere a balloon alien (a green balloon with an alien face drawn on it with a Sharpie) to the back of the headband. To do this, stick one half of the sticker to the back of the headband and gently apply the other half to the balloon. Let the trainee astronauts know that their mission is to whack the dangerous aliens that have attached themselves to their fellow astronauts, and knock the aliens off their heads using the foam noodles. The astronaut who still has an alien on their head at the end of the game wins, because they will be able to bring the specimen home for scientific study. This is a great game for tiring the kids out as it’s a very energetic, exciting game. If you are looking for a similar game but without hitting each other than consider Space Ship Pinata which are always a hit with kids.