With everyone stuck inside and doing the right thing, who isn't dreaming of freedom?
And the highest level of freedom we can think of is wafting amongst the stars with childlike wonder and peacefulness.
If you're anything like us, we want that serenity for us and our little ones going full wildling from being cooped inside.
Luckily, we have the solution to your woes.
NASA and the ISS Lab have launched a series of fun activities you can do from the curve-flattening safety of your own home, including the fan favourite "Become a Home Astronaut".
Build a hovercraft, launch rockets, search for experimental medical cures, and even become a home astronaut with cool credentials the little ones can show off to their friends. The experiments themselves can be compared to the results the astronauts found aboard the International Space Station!
Click here to get started with over 10+ NASA activities you can do in your own home.
Looking for something for kids from K to Year 4?
NASA's STEM Engagement program can guide you through building historical NASA spacecraft and useful weather devices the pros use every single day to better understand Earth and beyond. You can even construct a Balloon-Powered Rocket!
There are also fun interactive games you can play and colouring-in to wind down or for rainy days.
These educational resources are completely free and will arm parents with some wildly interesting science for their kids to make the most productive lockdown.
Here's a cracking example of how to observe microgravity and how astronauts don't actually float in space but are in a constant free-fall towards Earth. Try this one at home, all you need is some paper, string and a bottle.
Is your little one more of an astronomer?
Here's a fun activity where kids can file through images of our universe in search of exciting new planets and brown dwarf stars while using NASA software to think like a scientist and plan future Mars missions.
If your kid loves frolicking in the garden and is the more laboratory type, you can aid SpaceX with their October resupply mission and help them choose a legume for a space experiment. In the Leguminaut Challenge (hilarious name btw), kids can choose Alfalfa, Mungbean or Lentil and can offer assistance to scientists about which plant is the most suitable for the experiment in space.
It also shows kids, adults and even teachers design thinking principles and review processes which are invaluable given parents have become stay-at-home teachers.
With these fun little activities, we hope that this unfortunate situation can inspire many young minds to pursue scientific futures and create a bond with their parents over the mystery of our universe.
#Space_Aus
