Print out our free rocket printable and have fun making some straw rockets! The kids loved designing their own rockets and then launching them using straws- such a great way for kids to explore science!
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This post was originally published on June 14, 2015 and has since been updated.
Here’s an easy way to make straw rockets using just a few materials. This project makes a great addition to a unit on physics, space, the night sky, or things that fly and is also just fun to do on a rainy day!
A reader, Lisa, suggested a great children’s book to go with this activity: The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield. Be sure to check it out!
How to Make Straw Rockets
The kids and I designed our own rockets and launched them using straws! This activity was definitely a hit with both Lucy (age 7) and Theo (age 3 1/2).
The kids loved seeing how far they could get their straw rockets to go and had fun trying them out at all different angles.
This activity makes a great science exploration and is perfect for the classroom. Kids can compare how different angles of the straw affect the distance the rocket travels or how adding fins or folding the rocket in different ways can affect its flight.
See the straw rockets in action!
Straw Rocket Science Activity for Kids with Free Printable
Materials for Making Straw Rockets
- Straws
- Tape or glue dots
- Plastic pipettes (or straws with a larger diameter than the other set of straws)
- Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
- Scissors
- Free Rocket Template
Directions for Making Straw Rockets
1. Print out the free rocket template. Color the rockets and cut them out.
2. Cut the bottom off a plastic pipette and attach it to the back of a rocket using tape or glue dots. (We love having a stash of plastic pipettes at home. They’re so fun to use with painting and often come in handy for various science activities- like with our color arrays. And they’re super inexpensive!)
If you don’t have any plastic pipettes handy, you can use a straw instead. (Just make sure this straw is wider than the other straw you’ll be using for launching.) Cut the straw to fit the length of the rocket and tape one end shut so it’s completely sealed. Attach it to your rocket with glue dots or tape.
3. Slip a straw into your pipette, and you’re ready to launch!
4. Give your straw a big puff of air, and watch it take off!
Extending the Straw Rockets Science Activity
- How does the angle you launch your rocket affect the distance it travels? Try out different angles and record the results.
- Can you design your own rockets to attach to the pipette or straw? Which designs work better?
- Try adding another fin to your rocket with tape. How does it affect the flight of your rocket?
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grace says
June 18, 2015 at 4:21 pmwhat a fabulous idea! thank you!!!!
esther says
December 29, 2016 at 3:12 amwhat a fabulous thought! we enjoyed blowing it!!!!
nancy says
July 11, 2018 at 7:37 pmI can’t wait to try this idea with the children in my daycamp. I know it will attract all ages
and not just 4-6 year olds. They gravitate to fun and different activities. so thank you
again and keep up the great work!!!!!
Eric B says
June 28, 2015 at 6:55 amHey Hey!! We tried these with a BIG group of pre-K kids and had a blast. From customizing to cutting to final assembly and launch they were a hit.
We found that most “restaurant” straws were slightly larger in diameter than standard grocery store straw and worked perfectly in tandem as rocket-straw and launch-straw for this project.
We also had a LOT of fun folding the fins and the rocket itself (down the center-line) to improve the aerodynamics–often even achieving a gliding landing!! Big fun, thanks again for posting.
Chelsey says
June 28, 2015 at 10:36 amSo glad you all enjoyed them!! I love the tips- thank you! Now we’ll have to try different folds and see how they affect our gliding and landing!
kim says
June 22, 2016 at 4:30 pmDid you print on regular computer paper or cardstock?
Chelsey says
June 22, 2016 at 5:17 pmThey’ll definitely work better and last longer if printed on cardstock. 🙂
Zulaika says
March 25, 2018 at 4:21 pmWow I think my students will love this. This week we are working on transportation and I am reading the book Zoom Rocket Zoom. to add to the reading I am going to show them how to make your rocket ship for science thank you so much. Sorry i did not introduce my self my name is Zulaika Reyes and I teach Pre K at Hobby Elementary school.
Chelsey says
March 26, 2018 at 10:28 amI love how you are using the rockets as an extension to your unit and book! Hope the kids enjoy! 🙂
Manin says
September 23, 2015 at 7:15 amHi !!
Yesterday we read the book The Way Back Home from Oliver Jeffers to the class of my 5 years old daughter. After reading, they colored this little rockets and then I used a little roll of construction paper in the back instead of the pipettes.
It was a hit with all the kids! boys and girls !!!
And great activity for this book, which we LOVE.
Thanks for this great idea! And I will keep update with your posts, you have awesome ideas for the kids!
Saludos from Mexico! 🙂
Chelsey says
September 23, 2015 at 10:32 amThat is the perfect book to accompany the straw rockets!! How fun! And I love your modification using the construction paper. That will be helpful to many readers- thank you so much for sharing!
Ranae says
April 19, 2016 at 7:18 amThank you for the template! Four kids had fun while their moms were learning English and I only had 10 minutes to prep activities.
Chelsey says
April 20, 2016 at 11:58 amYay! So glad they enjoyed it! 🙂
Anonymous says
June 2, 2016 at 7:12 pmThanks for such a great project – all ready to go. My kids had a great time.
Bethio says
July 19, 2016 at 7:02 pmI work as an ABA therapist and had about 30 minutes to come up with some space-themed activities to keep my client busy. Thanks for this idea–it worked great! It’s sometimes difficult to keep his attention, but this lasted off and on through a full 3.5-hour session! 🙂
Lisa says
August 3, 2016 at 11:20 pmThank you! My preschool class are going to love this tomorrow!
Judy Hoskin says
August 16, 2016 at 7:24 pmSuper idea. I need an easy, fairly quick, fun activity to do with groups of primary children – all ages. This was the first activity I checked and it’s just right! Much appreciated!
Stefanie Anderson says
February 6, 2017 at 12:22 pmI used this idea at a library storytime this week, and the kids loved it! How do I get on your Trackbacks list?
Juli says
April 24, 2017 at 2:03 pmHey I just ordered a bunch of the plastic piplette. The ones that the link went to but I’m not sure what size straws?
Chelsey says
April 24, 2017 at 5:45 pmHi Juli- Just regular size straws you’d buy at Target or your grocery store. You can use the normal plastic ones or paper. Have fun!
Alyssa says
May 15, 2017 at 10:17 amWhat a great idea. I am featuring these if you don’t mind.
Anonymous says
June 6, 2017 at 9:30 amWhat size Pipettes did you use? The link is no longer in amazon
Chelsey says
June 6, 2017 at 9:39 amSorry about that! Just fixed it in the post. The pipettes were 3mL. http://amzn.to/2rxvNNH
Chris says
June 6, 2017 at 10:25 amLove this idea! We used to make balloon rockets in my preschool science class, but are no longer allowed to use balloons. This is ingenious and I know the kids will love it. Thanks!
Nisha Raveenderen says
June 23, 2017 at 2:00 amWhat an amazing idea! Thank you so much! I’m using it today in our kids’ meditation program (Sahaja Yoga).
Renee Schwartz says
September 22, 2018 at 9:17 amWhat a fun idea! And the best part is you could do so many more things than just rockets if you wanted to. One idea I had was super heroes – well, the ones that can fly, anyway. Superman, Iron Man, etc.
Trish says
October 10, 2018 at 4:30 pmI’ve made the rockets with my class and they were such a hit we’re going to make ghosts and bats for Halloween and see how far they can fly!
Chelsey says
October 15, 2018 at 3:49 pmYay! That sounds so fun! I’d love to hear how it goes! 🙂
Jean Shea says
December 7, 2018 at 6:01 amI love those added activities. You could make a table with them on a board and write down kids’ hypothesis before experimenting with different straw lengths and such.
Chelsey says
December 8, 2018 at 9:50 pmLove that idea!!
Karine says
January 12, 2019 at 3:11 amHi, Thank you so much for sharing the template. Made it easier for me and my son who had to do something related to space.