Moon Day Space Derby

We celebrated “Moon Day” (July 20, the anniversary of man landing on the moon) by having a Space Derby.  It was great!  We asked each Scout to build a space derby kit and bring it to our den meeting.  Parents and families were also invited to attend.

We had “Astronaut Registration” set up in the foyer of the building where we meet.  There, each Scout received his name badge, as well as a Space Derby patch.  They turned in their rockets so they could be checked and prepped for the derby.  They were given a straw rocket kit to play with as a preopening activity, while they waited for us to start.

We started by moving the Scouts into the gym, where we were holding the derby.  We had a section set up as an “Astronaut Orientation and Training” station.  Here, we played a video of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren placing the flag on the moon for our flag ceremony.  (The video was projected on a large screen.  The video we used can be found here.)  We discussed some space trivia, like products that were developed for the space program (such as Velcro and juice boxes), as well as some astronauts that have been Cub Scouts (I found a list by searching online).  We also gave each Scout a space encyclopedia book that I found at the dollar store.

After this, we moved on to the derby.  We had the track set up at the “Launch Site.”  (We blocked off the track with chairs and signs that said “Authorized Personnel Only.”)  We had several races for speed and for distance.  We also set up balloons partway down the track with a pin in a card right before it, to see which rocket(s) could pop the balloon.  One thing we learned was that it took a long time to set up the rockets between each race.  It was nice to have the straw rockets for them to play with, but it would have been better to have more games and activities.  We also decided that we needed to have a winding mechanism to help make the process faster.  You can find the instructions for using a drill to wind the rockets several places online.  We also found that we needed extra rubber bands because several broke right away.  We found some the same size as those in the kits at Staples.

After the races, we gave out awards to the Scouts for completing their “missions.”  We had one “medal” (paper cutout that looked like a medal) for each “mission” (race).  Each Scout received a medal for all the “missions” they completed, whether they were the winner or not.  They also each received an astronaut ice cream.

We also had a “Refueling Station” of snacks for everyone.  We had juice boxes, Tang, and Moon Pies.

It was a lot of fun!  I think we are going to make this an annual event.

Here are some files you can use to do your own space derby:

Authorized PersonnelOnly poster (we printed on yellow cardstock)

Authorized Personnel Only mini-signs (we printed on yellow cardstock)

Other Signs (printed on cardstock)

Astronaut Name Badges