Build a Cubby House On The Moon: STEM Activity
Kids often make secret forts and cubby houses by using furniture, sheets, and other household items to create a makeshift wall.
As an adult, it’s a privilege to be invited in – with the secret password of course – and an opportunity to experience the world from a child’s perspective.
Children create these spaces for many reasons. They can be used as secret hideaways where children can escape from the world, as spaces to store their precious toys, or as a place to entertain their friends without the presence of an adult gaze.
Whatever the reasons, it’s hard to deny that building a cubby house is fun!
While a side wall made from pillows, and a sheet for a roof may work just fine in your lounge room, building shelters takes on a whole new dimension when you need to create them on the Moon.
An activity to do at home
The team at Primary + STEM have identified the activity Moon Shelter to help kids learn about shelters and investigate the importance of having shelter for protection on Earth and in space.
The activity forms part of the Primary + STEM team’s curated selection of Teaching Resources which have been mapped to the Victorian education curriculum.
You can find over a hundred STEM activities on the Primary + STEM website!
Moon Shelter was created by a team at the European Space Agency and is a downloadable booklet to work through at home.
When completing the activity, your child will learn about the important role of shelters, both on Earth and in space.
You’ll get to compare environmental conditions and imagine a suitable shelter for a Moon environment.
It’s estimated that it will take around 90 minutes to complete the activity. It’s rated as ‘medium’ in relation to its complexity.
Recommended materials include sand, clay, polystyrene, plastic, and balloons.
After learning some cool facts about shelters, there are four activities to complete, including:
- Taking shelter
- World shelters
- Could you live on the Moon?
- My Moon shelter
Share your activity experience
If you try this activity out at home, we’d love to see pictures of your shelter designs! You can send images through to primaryandstem@gmail.com along with any advice for other budding Moon dwellers so we can share them on the website.
Information for teachers
While this resource has been created for students in Years 3 and 4, it can be easily adapted for the Foundation to Year 2 levels as students study shelters as part of the Design and Technologies content descriptor VCDSTC015.
This resource provides a set of activities that has students investigating the importance of having shelter for protection on Earth and in space. They will compare the environmental conditions on Earth and on the Moon and in a group, they will imagine and build their own Moon shelter.
This activity has been mapped to the Victorian curriculum:
- Learning area: F-10: Design and Technologies
- Curriculum code: Design & Technologies > Levels F to 2 > Food and fibre production > VCDSTC015
- Grade level: Foundation to 2
Image credit
Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev from Pexels