Water Bottle Rocket Craft for Preschool


This fun easy craft doubles as a toy when you're child is finished.Your child is free to paint their rocket any way they want.  Cutting the “flames” for the rocket free form out of construction paper helps children to develop their fine motor skills and become more comfortable handling scissors.  This craft is very flexible and adaptable.  Little M. had a ton of fun painting the rocket and cutting out the flames. I hope your little one enjoys it too!


Here's What Your Child Will Need to Make the DIY Rocket Toy

  • an empty water bottle
  • construction paper, at least two colors (one for the body of the rocket and one for the flames)
  • clear tape
  • non toxic washable paint
  • paintbrush
  • cup or container to hold the paint
  • scissors

Before we made this craft, we read the book Moonshot by Brian Floca out loud.  It is an excellent book about the Apollo 11 trip to the moon.  For more information about this book and all of the books we read this week and last, check out our roundup of children's books about space.

Ask your child what color they would like to use as the base of their rocket. Little M. choose a light blue. I measured how much I would need to fit the water bottle and cut off the excess. Then, I taped the construction paper to the bottle. Little M. picked out the colors of paint she wanted to use. I gave her the rocket, paint, and paintbrush and she painted the sides of her rocket. We set it aside overnight to dry.


The next day I asked her what color the flames from a rocket's engine were. She told me they were red, so I handed her some red construction paper and child safe scissors. I asked her if she wanted to cut some flames for her rocket. I cut the red construction paper in half lengthwise to make it easier to cut. She cut it up into various shapes. I pulled out the most flame-like strips and taped them to the end of the rocket. (We could have glued them on, but I wanted her to be able to play with her creation as soon as possible).

I asked her what kind of rocket it was and she told me it was a Falcon 9 (somebody is a little obsessed with SpaceX around here). She flew it around the house practicing countdowns to take off and landing.

This project goes nicely with the Martian puppet that I posted yesterday. The Martian can use this rocket to fly through the galaxy and get into all kinds of adventures in your child's imagination.



Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by A Dash of Learning and read about our rocket craft activity. If you enjoyed it please consider sharing it on social media with your friends or leaving a comment down below. We'd love to hear from you about how it went!

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