Wondering how to nurture your child’s curiosity in the best way possible? Space can be the answer.
Kids can gaze at the sky for hours as if they try to seek answers to the mysteries of the Universe. Parents can give direction to this curiosity by introducing them to Astronomy through space related activities.
These popular sites will let your child explore space virtually, enhancing their creativity and boosting their confidence (even if they don’t pursue a career in this field).
1. ESA Kids
The European Space Agency has a dedicated platform for kids. The interface is loaded with exciting activities and games, which your kid will enjoy.
One interesting activity is building a paper spacecraft (with easy to follow instructions). You just need to provide your kid with scissors and glue. The portal also has games like Space Cleanup, Spacecraft Assemble, Space Memory Game, Milky Way Match, and many more.
Your child can participate in contests ranging from artwork to model designing and much more. The winners get their entries exhibited in the space gallery of the European Space Agency.
Overall, the entire platform focuses on giving the right direction to a child’s curiosity and bringing out the space enthusiast in him/her.
2. Astropedia Web Portal
An initiative of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center, the Astropedia is an archive of cartographic products and planetary data. Your child can learn how to map a planet with the help of the tools at the portal.
There are other tools like planetary nomenclature and PILOT (Planetary Image Locator Tool), which can help your child make their virtual space exploration more interesting and fun.
3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Powered by NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has an array of mind-boggling activities for young curious minds. This portal is perfect for your kid to understand the technicalities of space science in an easy and fun way through their projects and toolkits.
Your kid can learn to make things like a planetary exploration balloon, a moon crater, a cardboard rover, and many other space-related models and projects.
JPL also organizes contests every now and then to keep their little space enthusiasts motivated.
4. The Space Place
The Space Place is another interesting platform where your child can learn about the wonders of space in a futuristic way. The knowledge base is unique with diverse activities that'll keep your child busy and productive at the same time.
The site is designed to make space learning more engaging with its devoted section of quizzes, puzzles, and games. Some of the fun games including coloring the universe and writing a zany adventure story, which are designed to help improve children’s decision-making and space knowledge.
5. Planetary Society
The site has a single motive of making the human race aware of their place in the cosmos. Planetary Society has a devoted section for kids that's full of interesting videos and cool space images. The fun activities will help your kid to think out of the box and learn things in a practical way.
Some of the portal’s at-home activities—like Life on Other Worlds, Steering our Spacecraft, and Too Hot or Too Cold in Space—are potent enough to maintain your child’s interest in the process of space learning.
6. NOVA Labs
Another interesting portal is NOVA Labs, which invites participants all over the world to become a part of research projects using real scientific data. The projects vary from predicting solar storms to designing RNA molecules. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
This digital platform engages volunteers in areas of active research with its rich knowledge base and informative videos, and guides them as they answer scientific questions or try to design solutions to existing scientific problems. By being a part of these scientific investigations, your child will develop a tendency to think like a scientist.
By creating an account at the portal, your child can track their progress as they watch videos and participate in activities and games. The site also offers opportunities like scholarships, internships, and science competitions—especially for teens—to keep them active on the platform.
NOVA Labs aims to foster authentic scientific exploration in young minds through its diverse projects.
7. Zooniverse
This site is designed to give your kid’s space knowledge a practical bent. Zooniverse invites everyone—irrespective of their age group—to contribute to real academic research using authentic scientific data. The platform has seen the efforts of their volunteers get converted into significant results in the form of published research papers and even scientific discoveries.
The way Zooniverse carries out its people-powered research is really interesting. Anyone who volunteers in a project can interact with the associated research team. Your kid can access all the authentic data gathered by researchers—like pictures of faraway galaxies—and contribute to the research by answering simple questions.
Moreover, there's an option where anyone can start their own project using the Zooniverse project builder and invite volunteers to join in their quest. This all might sound a bit complicated, but exploring the site will have your kid finding it informative and interactive.
Let Your Kids Explore the Wonders of Space!
Curiosity is the key to creativity, and what else can spark curiosity more than the infinite space. Introducing your child to the vastness of the beautiful yet baffling cosmos at an early age can give them a broader vision of life and enhance their decision making ability to a great extent.
“When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.” (Kalpana Chawla)
If you think that your child is too young to understand the mysticalities of space then the above mentioned sites will definitely change your mind. Besides introducing them to these wonderful online platforms you can also encourage them to participate in activities like stargazing, reading astronomy books, and visiting city planetariums.
