Do you have someone in your family who loves space? If you do, chances are you’re always on the lookout for new material to feed their passion.
My oldest daughter, now 11, has been fascinated with all things space for years now. Our homeschool is pretty heavily focused on STEM subjects, but the specifics of what we learn are interest-led meaning they can choose what they want to study in-depth.
That said, we have spent a ton of time learning about space and combing through all of the resources there are – and there are a LOT out there.
So whether your child is as crazy about space as mine, or you’re just looking for a way to teach more about the topic, I have compiled some of the resources that we use as a family. The best part? They’re all free!
Here is a run-down of the best free online resources for kids who love space.
Websites
NASA.gov
NASA.gov has to be the first on the list. It is amazing and provides so much free information, educational products, and activities that I don’t even know where to start.
I recommend first checking out the NASA Kids’ Club. This interactive kids area has a ton of information geared toward elementary aged kids. It has activities and printables, picture shows on various topics, games, videos, virtual tours, and ways to get involved.
In addition to all of that, an absolutely fantastic offering is their NASA Stem @ Home program, which is divided by age range (grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12). We love the K-4 section, which has videos, stories, games and activities, hands on projects, and videos.
If you wanted to make a space unit study, you could find everything you need right here without having to look anywhere else. And it’s all free!
Outside of the Kids’ Club, there is even more for kids to explore. Even though not specifically geared toward kids, there is information about missions and astronauts, free e-books, NASA TV, and stunning photo galleries.
National Geographic Kids: Passport to Space
While not as comprehensive as NASA’s site, National Geographic Kids offers information about each planet and other elements of space, educational videos, and fun quizzes and activities.
The quality is what you would expect from National Geographic. Great quality photos, easy readability for kids, and very engaging content.
The only downside is that most of it is just for online use, whereas NASA has a lot of things that can be printed out or done screen-free. I know this isn’t necessarily a big deal because they’re online resources after all, but NASA just goes next level in what they offer.
AMNH.org
The American Museum of Natural History has a great collection of space resources for kids. From stories and videos to hands-on activities and online games, there is a lot to explore.
I particularly love their printable Moon Flip Book activity where kids can create their own flip books to see the phases of the moon in action. Such a great idea!
Sky and Telescope
Geared toward seasoned astronomers and older school aged kids, Sky and Telescope has a wealth of information for stargazers about what you can see in the sky on any given week as well as time tables for lunar eclipses, meteor showers, and other notable space events.
While this will be great if you have older kids or your family loves to check out the night sky with your telescope, this isn’t the reason I’m including the site on my list.
Sky and Telescope has a section specifically for homeschoolers from grades K-12. It includes a huge amount of resources, like livestreams, space websites, links to activities, and audio and video resources.
If you want a comprehensive list of space resources to use for homeschooling, you need to bookmark this.
YouTube
Canadian Space Agency
My kids’ all time favorite space-related YouTube channel is from the Canadian Space Agency. They have a series of videos filmed from the International Space Station featuring astronaut Chris Hadfield.
Each video answers a common question about life in space, such as how do astronauts brush their teeth, how do you sleep in space, and what kind of food do astronauts eat.
Although they were filmed about 7 years ago with no new material coming out, there are a lot of videos to watch. The information they provide, along with the fact that they are filmed in space, makes it a great resource.
The videos are fun and engaging, and any kid who dreams of being an astronaut one day will be thrilled to be able to see these clips of a day in the life of a real astronaut.
SpaceX
SpaceX’s YouTube channel is great for watching launches and flight footage in real time.
They also have videos about the technical design aspects of their rockets and technology as well as talks about SpaceX’s ultimate goal of getting humans on Mars.
NASA
NASA’s YouTube station is another channel to check out for live launches.
Follow continued coverage of NASA’s current projects, including the Perseverance Rover, which is set to land on Mars on February 18, 2021, and their Artemis Moon to Mars plan. Exciting things are happening!
Not only does it show live action videos, it also has a ton of educational videos about various space-related topics.
Podcasts
REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids
As I’ve mentioned before, our family is really into using podcasts as a learning tool. REACH is a great family friendly, kid focused podcast about everything space.
Hosted by Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien, this podcast includes half hour episodes as well as biweekly mini episodes that run about 3 minutes long.
The longer episodes bring in experts to talk about things like black holes, Mars, and NASA’s Perseverance rover. Their mini episodes quickly cover one question, like. “Why is our sky blue?” or “Why is Mars red?”.
That’s my roundup of the best online resources for kids who love space. The best part about it is that space and space exploration is constantly evolving. New missions are created and interesting space events are being added to these resources, so you can always come back and see new content to learn about.
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