THE FARAWAY SCHOOL OF DISCOVERY presents

🚀 Summer Space Explorer Kit

A free one-session activity pack for young scientists (ages 7-9) · print & go

🪐 Word Hunt

Can you find every space word? Circle them, then read them aloud like a mission checklist.

SPACETIMECOMETGRAVITYPLANETROCKETORBITSOLARSTARMOONSCIENCEGALAXY

☀️ Meet the Planets

Our Solar System, in order from the Sun. Which one would YOU visit first?

MercuryVenusEarthMarsJupiterSaturnUranusNeptune

🧪 Experiment: The Great Falling Race

Gravity pulls on everything - but does it pull heavier things faster? Drop two objects and find out, like a real Faraway School scientist!

You need: Do it:
  1. Hold a flat sheet of paper in one hand and the ball in the other, at the same height.
  2. Drop them both at exactly the same time. Which lands first?
  3. Now scrunch the paper into a tight ball and race them again.
  4. What changed? Write down what you saw.
The science: Gravity pulls everything down at the same speed - but AIR gets in the way of the flat sheet and slows it. Scrunch the paper and there's less air to push against, so it falls almost as fast as the ball. Real scientists call this air resistance.

⏳ Experiment: How Time Works - Make a Shadow Clock

Long before phones, people told the time using the Sun. The pupils at the Faraway School would love this one.

  1. On a sunny day, push a straight stick into the ground outside (or stand a pencil in some clay).
  2. Every hour, mark where its shadow points and write the time next to it.
  3. Come back the next day - the shadow tells you the time!
Why does the shadow MOVE during the day? Because the Earth spins! As Earth turns, the Sun looks like it moves across the sky, so the shadow swings around. One full spin = one day.

✏️ Your Turn

Imagine… Imagine YOU could travel to any planet OR any moment in history. Where (or when) would you go, and what is the first thing you would do?
Draw it! Draw your very own planet. Give it a name, and label one amazing thing about it.

🌟 Quick-Fire Quiz

  1. Which planet is closest to the Sun? Mercury
  2. What pulls everything down towards the ground? Gravity
  3. How long does it take Earth to spin around once? One day (24 hours)
  4. What do we call a huge group of millions of stars? A galaxy
Loved the mission? The whole adventure is a book:
“The Adventures of Space and Time” by Karl P.J. Hobbes · ages 7-9
Two best friends, a school rocket, and a mysterious new boy from Earth.
Ask about club & classroom sets: [email protected]