Space is fascinating to people of all ages, especially children who are yet to explore the world out of the comfort of the classroom. There are some really easy and quick ways to incorporate space into your lessons and classroom which make it a great subject for primary teachers.
NASA should be your first point of call for teaching ideas, images and inspiration.
NASA have a section of their site specifically designed for educators, aimed at a USA audience but still useful for UK based teachers. You’ll find teaching resources and ideas, apps and case studies from NASA missions.
Explore the site, there are some great things to be found such as the Kids Club which is great for kids computer time in class. It’s full of class worthy facts and games for a mix of ages.
Classroom ideas for a space focused lesson
A day in the life on the International Space Station 
This pupil friendly resource allows kids to find out what its like to live on board the space station and do everyday tasks such as washing their hair, using the toilet and even sleeping. It’s a great online source for showing on a projector at the front of the class at the start of your space themed lesson. You can create activities off the back of it such as asking pupils to draw what they think the inside of the space station looks like.
The in-depth insight into food over the course of NASA’s missions is really interesting and could provide lots of discussion.
Make your own space ship- paper modelling
Borrow the moon
Did you know the Science and Technology Facilities Council loan out pieces of moon rock free of charge for educational use. You’ll need to reserve your piece of moon 4 months in advance but you’ll get a wealth of support materials including a DVD!
Create your own Astronaut Training Facility
Create some nasa space training passes and a training schedule with time for when each space themed classroom activity should start. Hand out stars each time a pupil completes an activity.
Get creative, there are so many activities on Pinterest to try out and lots of informative videos on YouTube that would make great lesson starters if you have the facilities.
