World Space Week / Astronaut Glove Challenge
Astronaut Glove Challenge
Children try everyday tasks such as threading beads or building with bricks while wearing thick gloves, discovering how hard fine work is for astronauts on spacewalks.
How to run it
- Explain that spacesuit gloves are thick and stiff, which makes small jobs tricky.
- Set out task trays: threading beads, doing up buttons, stacking blocks and picking up coins.
- Have children try each task with bare hands, then again wearing two layers of gloves.
- Time both attempts and talk about why astronauts practise tasks so much before a mission.
You will need
- thick garden or winter gloves
- rubber gloves
- large beads and string
- button shirt
- building bricks
- coins
- timer
Make it easier or harderYounger children can use larger objects; older children can record times in a table and design a glove that improves grip.
SafetyUse large beads with younger children and supervise small items to avoid choking risks.
My Time Our Place · Outcome 4Children compare and measure results, testing a prediction and connecting their findings to real-world space work.
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