Activities on Meteors & Meteorites for Kids

Life Cycle of a Space Rock Mural

• Your child can create a mural illustrating the life cycle of the meteor. You'll need a sheet of craft paper, finger paint, different shades of glitter, crayons, markers, tiny rocks to represent the rocks from space, glue and any other craft supplies that your child may enjoy, like aluminum foil or cotton balls. Have your child draw or paint the meteoroid in space, the moment it passes through the Earth's atmosphere as a meteor and when it settles on the planet's surface as a meteorite. He can even add a picture of scientists studying it or schoolchildren looking at it in a museum or science center.

Meteorite Investigation

• This activity helps kids explore the differences between a meteorite and a plain old earth rock. You'll need a selection of rocks and an actual piece of meteorite so, if you can't obtain meteorite online or through the school board, this may be an activity for a visit to the science center. Have the kids make a chart comparing the rocks to the meteorite. Meteorites have distinctive features like: they are black or rusty brown on the outside, they are heavy, they have an irregular shape, they are shiny inside, they are magnetic and have chondrites (little stony balls) inside. The earth rocks may be magnetic, may be covered with bubble marks or holes, may be round, may be quartz (which is only found on the Earth) and may be used to make a streak on unglazed tile or other rocks.

Making Craters

• This activity examines how the impact crater from a meteorite is formed. Find small marbles or rocks to serve as meteorites. You want to choose items with different shapes and weights. Prepare the space by laying a newspaper across the floor to catch some of the mess. Put about three inches of flour in a shallow container. Evenly spread cocoa, chocolate cake mix or another dark powder on the top, trying to get the surface as level as possible. Drop each object from about three feet in the air. Your child can measure the crater and make notes on its shape. He may want to take pictures. Smooth over the surface and start again with another object. After going through all the objects once, try varying the result by throwing from angles or different heights.

Make a Meteor

• This simple hands-on activity lets your child make her own meteor. All you need are large rocks, black paint, a paintbrush and glitter glue. Since meteors are never round or bullet-shaped, be sure to help her pick irregularly shaped rocks with divots and bulges on them. Just paint the rocks black and set them out to dry. Next, brush them with glitter glue to give them a shine. Black glitter glue is best but any color will work.