Easter Egg Rocket Races

Create Easter egg rockets from plastic eggs. Then, race them two different ways: blast off to the sky or launch them back down to Earth.

Easter Egg Rocket Races

The Easter egg rockets were pretty simple to make. You’ll need the following materials:

• plastic Easter eggs
• cardstock or other thick paper
• scissors
• tape
• straw(s) – for the race
• yarn – for the race

How to Assemble the Rocket:

1. Cut 3 fins for your rocket. Aiden cut most of our fins after I showed him the shape we needed {just a simple right triangle}.
2. Tape your fins equidistant around the bottom of your rocket. Our fins lifted the rocket up off the ground a little. {Your paper needs to be strong enough to do this. If you paper is not strong enough, just attach the fins so they help sit the rocket up.}

How to Launch the Rocket {into Space}

Aiden requested the rockets be launched up, so this is what we did:

1. Stretch two pieces of yarn across your room for each rocket that is racing.
2. Tape one side of the yarn to a wall or other sturdy object. Place the tape in a spot taller than your child, so the rocket will travel up from the ground.
   
3. Tape a small piece of straw to the side of your rocket.
4. Thread the two pieces of yarn through the straw. {Make sure your rocket is pointing in the correct direction.}
5. Position the rocket at the end of the yarn farthest away from the wall.
6. Hold the two pieces of yarn in your hands. Place one piece in each hand and pull. The rocket will move forward up the yarn. Continue to pull the yarn apart and the rocket will continue to move up the yarn.
7. First rocket to the wall wins.

It takes a little coordination to make the rocket move on the yarn. I found that if I wrapped my hands around the yarn as I walked towards the wall, my rocket went faster. My husband found quick pulls on the yarn sent the rocket flying. Aiden had fun attempting both methods and also enjoyed just slowly moving his rocket to the wall by pulling slowly on the yarn. He asked to do this again and again.

How to Send the Rocket Back to Earth

This setup is much simpler and lets gravity do the work.

1. Stretch one piece of yarn across the room {or down a set of stairs} for each rocket that is racing.
2. Tape one end of the yarn to a wall or other tall object.
3. Tape a small piece of straw to the side of your rocket.
   
4. Thread the one piece of yarn through the straw. {Make sure your rocket is pointing in the correct direction.}
5. Secure the other end of the yarn to the floor, low object, or wall at the bottom of the stairs.
6. Position the rocket at the top of the yarn.
7. Let gravity take the rocket to the ground.

Which rocket will reach the bottom first?

You can add weight to the inside of the eggs and test which one reaches the bottom first as well. Does more weight make the egg go faster or slower?

More Preschool Physics Ideas

• Launching Easter Eggs Experiment – How far do plastic eggs travel with different weights inside?
• Egg Drop Experiments – Check out these 8 different variations on a classic experiment.
• Try out one of these kinetic energy experiments.

You’ll also want to check out these 20 science activities with plastic Easter eggs.

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This post was originally published on April 9, 2014.