We had a little rocket building party at our place. Â Miranda invited two of her friends over and the three of them and Matthew built rockets. Â The three girls each built a FlisKits skill level 1 Whatchamacallit. Â Matthew built the larger, but still skill level 1, Thing-a-ma-Jig.
[Rockets built by Matthew, Miranda, and Miranda’s friends]
The fins on these kits were interesting. Because of the way they interlock with each other it was very easy to align them properly and we didn’t need any sort of jig to hold them while they dried, though we did use a little tape to hold them together.
Overall the party went well. Â Three eight year olds and a three year old are a little bit much for me to handle on my own for a build like this, but my wonderful wife helped out and it was a good afternoon.
We will have the girls over another day to paint the rockets. We’ll bring all the kids to the local hardware store and let them each pick a color. We’ll also take them to a store where they can buy stickers (I’m thinking iParty). When we get back to our home they’ll spray paint the rockets one color each. The morning of the launch they can put on the stickers.
TIP: If you attempt a childrens rocket building party, I strongly recommend you assemble one of the rockets once or twice before the party. Â I had looked through the instructions and thought it looked fairly simple, but there were a few items I would have adjusted before hand to make it go smoother. Â For example, we kept getting hung up on centering rings that were too tight. Â Fiddling with those rings took some time and had to be done by me. I think the kids may have had more of a sense of accomplishment if I didn’t have to help as much during the build.
TIP: Attaching a streamer is much easier for a kid on their first rocket than a parachute. If their first kit comes with a parachute I suggest you buy a roll of
party streamer, cut a piece 2 – 4 times as long as the rocket and use that instead of the parachute. Just tie the string to it using the sticky reinforcements just like you would attach a shroud line to a parachute. To roll it up, fold it in half twice then roll it. The Thing-a-ma-Jig came with a parachute, but I replaced it with a streamer. I did the same with the
kid’s first rockets as well.
Tags: building, kids, tips
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on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Kid's Rockets.
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