Paper Bag Space Helmets

It's hard to believe that this week we're wrapping up summer, but I am having a lot of fun looking through all the fun things we did these last few months. And, after making sure we keep summer simple, I'm still putting together some posts about it all!

These Paper Bag Space Helmets are a simple activity I've always loved doing with kids. A while back we made them at Big Brother's Outer Space Birthday Party, but I also made them with preschoolers years ago in my early days of teaching.

The day the kids made them this summer it proved to be a perfect summer activity - we had all the materials on hand and the kids had a blast playing in the yard with them afterwards. 

Materials

Brown Paper Bags (Recycled bags from the grocery store work fine) 

Scissors

Markers 

Decorative pieces (we had space stickers and red tape - but it can be anything fun)

To Prepare 

Trace a large circle onto the middle of the bag. (I like to use a plate.) Carefully use scissors to cut the circle out. Make sure you only cut through the side of the bag you traced on. On the sides of the bag cut out half oval shapes. These shapes will go over the kids shoulders. I strongly recommend that an adult do this part, as it can be tricky to only cut through one part of the bag at a time. 

The Activity

Let the kids decorate! The boys had a great time adding the foam stickers, the sparkly tape, and drawing on lines and words with the markers. Each helmet looked a little bit different and each kiddo was thrilled with their helmet. 

Afterwards the boys had a great time "blasting off" around the yard and traveling to outer space on our play structure. 

My guess is this will not be the last time we make these paper bag space helmets! They are also a great activity for rainy days or boredom busters! Don't forget to check out other Outer Space activities from our Outer Space Week during our Simple Summer Themes.