What your Preschooler will learn from this Preschool Space Activity:

- How to create a planetarium

- It'll interest your preschooler in space

- That stars and planets look a lot alike from earth

What you will Need for this Preschool Space Activity:

- A medium-sized plastic funnel

- Black construction paper

- A pushpin

- A pencil or pen

- Tape

- A small flashlight

- A kitchen or dining room table

- One or two blankets

What to do:

Step one: Take your funnel and tape your piece of black construction paper over the bigger hole of the funnel.

Step two: Take a small pin and pencil and poke holes the black construction paper. Tell your preschooler the small holes are stars while the bigger holes are the planets.

Step three: Set your preschooler up under a table with a blanket covering the sides. The idea is to make the area under the table as dark as possible.

Step four: Shine your flashlight through the smallest part of the funnel and your preschooler will have their own planetarium.

Variations on this Preschool Science Activity:

- You can build this planetarium in your preschooler's bedroom after dark, by simply turning off the light

- If you can, try to have your flashlight be small enough to completely fill the smaller hole of the funnel

Hi! I'm Theresa Halvorsen, the preschool science and nature writer for Preschoolrock.com. I have twin boys and am blown away by their fascination with preschool science and how the world works around them. I am always looking for fun and simple science activities so preschoolers can learn about science and the natural world. Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or questions you have about this site.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Integrate science into daily routines: cooking (chemistry), gardening (biology), building (physics), weather watching (meteorology). A science-rich home requires no special equipment.

• Safety first: always supervise, taste-test nothing, wash hands after experiments. Model good safety habits — goggles, careful pouring, cleanup. Safety habits built in preschool persist.

• Always ask "What do you think will happen?" before running an experiment. Prediction is the core of scientific thinking, and preschoolers' predictions are always worth hearing.

• Repeat experiments multiple times. Reliability — the same result happening consistently — is a key scientific concept, and repetition gives preschoolers the proof they find satisfying.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make science experiments safe for preschoolers?

Keep experiments to food-safe or food-grade materials whenever possible: vinegar, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, food coloring, and dish soap cover most preschool science. Always supervise hands-on experiments. Establish and enforce the rule: "We only put things in our mouth that adults say are safe." Keep experiments away from eyes — vinegar and salt water sting. Wash hands after all experiments. A pair of toy safety goggles adds a "scientist" identity bonus while providing real protection from splashes.

What everyday household materials are best for preschool science?

The essential preschool science pantry: baking soda, white vinegar, cornstarch, salt, sugar, food coloring, dish soap, and water. These materials enable: acid-base chemistry (baking soda + vinegar), non-Newtonian fluids (cornstarch + water = oobleck), color mixing (food coloring), surface tension (dish soap), crystal growing (salt and sugar), and density experiments (sugar solutions). Beyond kitchen supplies: magnets, a flashlight, a magnifying glass, and ice are the other essentials. The best science lab is an accessible kitchen shelf.

Related reading: See also our garden science guide and our weather science for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🔄 Flexible Thinking — When an experiment produces an unexpected result, children practice adapting their thinking — a form of cognitive flexibility that makes them more resilient learners across all subjects.
• 🌍 Nature Literacy — Learning the names, habits, and relationships of plants, animals, and natural phenomena builds the nature literacy that connects children to the living world and lays the groundwork for environmental stewardship.
• 🔍 Observation Skills — Paying close attention to what happens during an experiment — noting colors, textures, movements, and changes — builds the observational precision that all scientific and analytical work requires.
• 🔬 Scientific Method — Even a simple experiment teaches the predict-test-observe cycle that is the foundation of scientific thinking — and preschoolers who internalize this process approach problems with genuine scientific confidence.

Is your preschooler fascinated with the stars? Have you taken your preschooler to a planetarium yet? Whether or not you have, you can teach your preschooler how to create their own planetarium with this easy preschool space activity. You and your preschooler can actually simulate the night sky within your home with this fun and easy preschool space activity.

Questions to Ask Your Child

Use these open-ended prompts to extend the learning during or after the activity:

• "What do you think will happen before we try it?"
• "Was your prediction right, or did something surprise you?"
• "Why do you think that happened?"
• "What would change if we tried it with something different?"
• "Can you think of a place in real life where you've seen this before?"
• "What question does this make you want to answer next?"

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these questions. The goal is to keep the conversation going, model curious thinking, and give your child practice putting their experience into words.