Rocket Science for preschoolers!

My little man is very into rockets.  Through his enthusiasm, the rest of us have followed course!  Last week I set up some simple invitations for rocket "labs" for us to explore some different preschooler-friendly rockets!

First off was a string, two chairs, a straw with a balloon taped to it.  We blew up the balloon, taped it to the straw, then clipped a clothespin on the end of the balloon.  Insert a countdown (their favorite part!) unclip the balloon, and watch it fly!  We had fun making different changes  to the experiment and noticing what happened (reversing the balloon direction, adding fins, etc.)

 Next was another straw rocket--for this one we rolled and taped paper into a cylinder slightly larger than a straw (diameter).  We also cut a circle, cut a line on the radius, and then taped it into a cone for the top of the rocket.  Then a straw slides into the opening in the rolled paper and we can blow our rockets using our air to power them!!  We used tape on the floor to mark our distances in a little rocket launch!

Fun times and science learning abounded!!