Bored of being stuck indoors at home? Are you looking to join intergalactic explorers and discover somewhere completely out-of-this-world? Well then; it’s time to take your imagination to space and become an astronaut with our Cardboard Box Creations!

Rockets and space shuttles are used to take people and robots all the way up to space, launching from sites in Florida, Russia and other places all around the world. Build your own personal spacecraft, blast off from a launch pad in your own home and imagine a world of planets, asteroids, aliens and much more. To infinity and beyond!

Remember – cutting into cardboard can be tricky and dangerous. Ask a grown-up to help or supervise.

You will need:

- A very large box or multiple smaller boxes
- Sticky tape
- Extra cardboard
- Foil or silver paint
- Felt-tip pens or paint
- PVA glue
- Scissors

Step one

From a very large cardboard box or smaller box, cut four panels in the shape above. Cut one shape from each side of your box, or use more than one box if one side isn’t big enough. These will form the body of the space rocket, and you want to be able to fit inside it!

Step two

Lay the shapes flat on the floor next to each other, with the tall sides touching each other. Tape the pieces together along these seams.

Step three

Stand the pieces upright and wrap them around so that the open edges touch. Tape together this last side. Fold all the pointed tops in towards each other and tape in place.

Step four

From the cardboard, cut four identical shapes into fins, as shown. Make each one about half the height of the rocket. Cover them in foil or paint them silver to make them look like real rockets!

Step five

Tape one fin to each corner of the rocket body, at a height so that the fin sits a few centimetres above the floor. Use tape on both sides of the fins to hold them securely in place.

Step six

Ask a grown-up to help cut a door on one side of the spacecraft, as shown, as well as a handle in the door and a round window on each of the other three side panels so you can look out and enjoy the view! Then; it’s time for blast-off!

Step seven

Cut a rectangular piece of cardboard and bend in the bottom edge, as shown. Draw a screen, then glue on circles cut from cardboard to make buttons. Tape the control panel to the inside of the rocket. Decorate your rocket with moons, stars and planets – or your own unique design!

If you’ve enjoyed escaping home during this activity, make sure you pick up a copy of The Daredevil’s Guide to Outer Space for more rip-roaring space adventures!

Buckle up, space cadets! For more space-themed activities, why not design your own planet with our fun-filled activity sheet, in association with How to be a Space Explorer? Your cosmic adventure awaits...

Escaping Planet Earth: how to build a space rocket

Plastic is everywhere - in your shoes, pens, car, toys, TV, water bottles, food packaging...it’s almost impossible to get through a day without using it, and it’s creating major problems for our planet. Scarily, by 2050 it’s estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Our latest release, The Plastic Problem, gives kids and adults alike 60 ways to cut plastic out of their lives and become ‘plastic patrollers’ rather than polluters.

Do your kids want to change your family's approach to plastics? We’re here to help you do just that!

To tie in with this latest release and to celebrate this week's Global Recycling Day on March 18th, we’ve decided to ask one of our LP Kids’ readers, Karen, about how she and her daughter Lily got involved in a beach clean-up last summer, and the importance of being  a ‘plastic patroller’ and sustainable travellers. Take it away Karen!

What made you decide on doing a beach clean-up whilst you were on Chesil Beach?

We were visiting family in Dorset, as we like to stay in a caravan there when we can and to enjoy the beaches with Lily. I know they are doing so much down in Dorset to ensure the beaches are as clean as possible, whether that be the beautiful sandy beaches in Weymouth or the stunning pebble beach at Chesil Beach. We did the two-minute beach clean by the Chesil Beach centre, which is a lovely place to view the birds in the wetlands, as well as to learn about the history of the beach itself in the little museum. I used to love walks along Chesil Beach with my family when I was younger too and have amazing memories of it, so it's special to take Lily along with me now.

Why do you think it's important for Lily to become a 'plastic patroller’?

I want her to grow up appreciating the beach, nature, and our planet, and doing the beach clean was a fun and active way we could learn about it together. It was shortly before her fourth birthday, so it was a great way to help her learn about saving the planet in a practical way.

Did Lily enjoy it and if so what did she learn from doing it?

She loved it! It was like a little challenge for her to find things we could pick up. We mainly found beer cans, single-use coffee cups, a discarded BBQ, and a few broken plastic buckets and spades that clearly weren’t strong enough to carry pebbles, as well as a few other bits of rubbish from picnics. I wouldn’t let her pick things up herself as she was still quite little, but she would point them out to me and was challenging herself to find even more!

It turned into a game for us both, one that lasted much longer than two minutes. Even though she really enjoyed it, I also talked about what might happen to these items if no-one picked them up, so she could see there was a more serious side to it. We talked about them ending up in the sea, what lived in the sea, and what the impact on those creatures could be. It may have been fun spotting things but, in reality, we'd rather not be finding anything. We’ve done a similar one since in the local park and she now always says how ‘naughty’ it is when people have dropped rubbish.

I want to keep doing these kinds of things with Lily; she is, after all, part of the next generation and this is going to be increasingly essential to safeguard the planet for the future.

Thanks so much Karen and Lily for all of your input! You can read Karen's blog at The3amDiary.  A free activity sheet to help your family become plastic patrollers rather than plastic polluters is available here. The Plastic Problem is available to order online from our shop or from all good bookstores.

The Plastic Problem: beach clean-ups for Global Recycling Day

On the first Sunday of September every year, Venetians celebrate an ancient victorious battle by racing boats down the city's maze of canals. This month at Lonely Planet Kids, we’re celebrating Venice's Historic Regatta with a step-by-step guide to making your own origami paper boat.

Follow the instructions below or download and print our activity sheet to make your own paper boat to sail in water!

You will need:

A4 coloured paper

A bowl of water (optional)

STEP ONE

Fold the A4 paper in half widthways, then fold in half again widthways.

STEP TWO

Unfold your paper once, then fold in the top two corners, making two triangles.

STEP THREE

Fold up one side of the bottom strip beneath the triangle.

STEP FOUR

Turn the paper over and fold two small triangles from the other side over onto this side, then fold the bottom two corners, to make four small triangles.

STEP FIVE

Fold up the bottom strip beneath the triangle on this side.

STEP SIX

Turn the paper on its side and pull the sides out to open up in a cup shape, then fold across the opposite way to make a flat square.

STEP SEVEN

Fold the top layer of the bottom half of the square upwards.

STEP EIGHT

Turn over and fold up the entire bottom half of the square to make a triangle.

STEP NINE

Open your paper out in the middle and then fold across the opposite side to before. Hold the top two corners and pull out sideways – your boat is made!

STEP TEN

Set sail by floating your boat in a bowl of water.

Make more boats and you'll have your own paper boat race scene!

Feeling inspired? Check out our other Lonely Planet Kids activities.

Welcome to a world of crafting, creativity… and cardboard! Lonely Planet’s Cardboard Box Creations will take you around the globe as you build 20 travel-themed objects, icons and famous landmarks. Including step-by-step instructions and a starter kit of cardboard sheets with cut-out template guides, you’ll soon become a master cardboard crafter!

Rainy day activity: Venice Regatta origami paper boat

Chinese dragons are an important symbol in China, representing power and strength. Huge, colourful dragon puppets emerge at festivals to bring good luck, and teams of dancers perform a traditional dragon dance. Gather friends to make and dance with this dragon, and create your own luck!

Remember – cutting into cardboard can be tricky. Ask a grown-up to help or supervise.

You will need:

- Large box
- Tape
- Extra cardboard
- White card
- Red and black paint
- 4 paper cups
- 2 googly eyes
- PVA glue
- Pencil
- Coloured card and tissue paper
- Glue stick
- Cotton wool balls
- 3 large toy hoops
- Sheet of red material, large enough to cover the hoops

Step one

Use tape to secure all the flaps and seal all the edges of a large box. Lay it on its side. Ask a grown-up to help cut a rounded rectangle shape out of the base, big enough for your head to fit through.

Step two

Place the box base down. Ask a grownup to help cut a mouth, starting with a straight line about halfway down the side that will be the face. Cut halfway into each adjoining side, and then cut down in a smile shape, as shown.

Step three

Cut out two strips of teeth from white card. Tape one in place along the top of the mouth and the other one along the bottom.

Step four

Cut two large, wide triangles from cardboard. Fold them in half down the centre. Tape each half along the top back corner edges, as shown, for horns. Paint the horns, the top of the box and the back of the box red.

Step five

Paint the outside of the paper cups black. Cut two circles from cardboard, just smaller than the cup bases. Stick them to the bottom of two cups. Add the googly eyes. Stick the cups to the top of the box with glue.

Step six

On the front of the box, slightly above the mouth, trace around the other two paper cup bases for nostrils. Ask a grown-up to help cut out these circles, cutting the holes just a little bigger than the marks traced.

Step seven

Cut the bases out of the two paper cups. Gently push the cups into the holes from the outside, bottoms first, as far as they’ll go.

Step eight

Cut long strips of coloured card or tissue paper into a scalloped shape, as shown. You’ll need enough of these strips to cover your box.

Step nine

Use a glue stick to stick the scalloped coloured strips to your box. Do this in rows of colour working upwards, starting with red at the bottom, then layering on other colours, and finishing with red at the top.

Step 10

Cut two small triangle shapes from coloured card. Fold the bottoms out at 90° and stick these to the top of the box for spikes. Use PVA glue to attach cotton wool balls around the back of the eyes.

Step 11

Cut strips of coloured tissue paper. Use tape to stick the ends of these under the dragon’s chin.

Step 12

Lay the red material flat on the floor. Lay the three large toy hoops in a line along the material. Stick one edge of each hoop in place with tape, as shown.

Step 13

Ask a grown-up to cut an arched slit in the back of the dragon’s head, as shown.

Step 14

Push one end of the material through the slit until there is about 20cm (8in) of the fabric on the inside of the head. Secure this on the inside of the box with tape.

Grab your friends then duck under the fabric and inside the box to bring your dragon to life!

Welcome to a world of crafting, creativity… and cardboard! Lonely Planet’s Cardboard Box Creations will take you around the globe as you build 20 travel-themed objects, icons and famous landmarks. Including step-by-step instructions and a starter kit of cardboard sheets with cut-out template guides, you’ll soon become a master cardboard crafter!

Build a Chinese dragon for Chinese New Year

This month at Lonely Planet Kids, we’re celebrating Peru’s Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) with a burst of sunshine from this drawing and colouring-in activity.

Inti Raymi is an annual festival held in Cuzco on 24 June. People visit from all over the world to celebrate and thank the sun. A procession winds through the streets playing music, and people dance, scatter flowers and sweep away evil spirits with brooms.

Try your hand at sketching out the other half of this sun and then complete your masterpiece with bold festival colours!

You will need:

Paper
Pencil
Felt-tip pens

STEP ONE

Gather your equipment, including our activity sheet which has started the patterns for you.

STEP TWO

Starting with a circle for the face, finish drawing the other half of the sun’s facial features, then move onto the sun’s rays – alternative swirls and straight, long spikes.

STEP THREE

Start your colouring! Grab those felt-tip pens and bring your golden sun to life with yellows, reds and oranges.

STEP FOUR

Next, it’s time to liven up that background. Inti Raymi is all about colourful robes and jewellery, so fill in the patterned background with the brightest array of colours possible.

STEP FIVE

Add the final touches to the sun’s face by carefully filling in its strong, majestic expression in black felt-tip pen.

Feeling inspired? Check out last month’s Lonely Planet Kids activity.

Rainy day activity: sketch and colour for Peru’s Inti Raymi festival

Each month, Lonely Planet Kids takes a look at a festival or culture from around the world and creates an activity to inspire curious young minds. This month, we’re celebrating Morocco’s Rose Festival with a spot of flower pressing.

The Moroccan Festival of Roses takes place in early May each year. It is held in the Valley of the Roses, in the midst of the Atlas Mountains. Pink roses shoot up all over the landscape and the flowers are used to create rosewater oil, which is an ingredient used for making perfume.

The festivities run for two days, in the Valley of the Roses’ capital, El Kelaâ M’Gouna. You can take part in dancing, singing and even sword-fighting, and there’s a ‘Miss Roses’ contest where women wear rose necklaces!

You will need:

Paper or newspaper
Scissors
A bunch of roses
Several heavy books

Top tip

Make sure to use fresh flowers. The best will be those that are buds or ones that have just bloomed.

Step one

Choose the heaviest book you can find. A dictionary would be perfect! Ask an adult before selecting your book, as the pages could get slightly damp, and you don’t want to damage something precious!

Step two

Remove the lower leaves and thorns and cut the flower stems. Make sure that they are short enough to fit in the book without poking out of the end.

Step three

Place two pieces of paper or newspaper inside the book so as to protect the pages, then place the flowers on top of it, making sure that they aren’t touching one another.

Step four

Close the book and press down, then place more heavy books on top of this one and leave to dry for one or two weeks.

Step five

Check on your flowers every few days, to see if they are dry. After a week or two, they’ll be fully dry and ready to show off! Why not display them behind glass in a picture frame?

Feeling inspired? Download and print our activity sheet and try flower pressing for yourself!

Rainy day activity: flower pressing for Morocco’s Rose Festival

On the last Wednesday in August, the town of Buñol in Spain turns red and squishy as thousands of people take to the streets for the world’s biggest food fight – La Tomatina! More than 100 tons of tomatoes are thrown and competitors get covered head to toe in the space of an hour. The tomato-tastic tradition has been taking place in the town since 1945.

Follow the instructions below or download and print our activity sheet to make your own paper tomato for a food fight without the mess!

You will need:

Red and green paper
Scissors
A small hole punch
Split pins
A pen or pencil

Step one

Cut your red sheet of paper into eight strips, each measuring 15cm x 2.5cm.

Step two

Draw a rough star or spidery shape on the green paper and cut it out. This will form the top of your tomato.

Step three

Carefully punch a hole roughly 1cm from the top and bottom edges of each strip, and one in the centre of the green tomato top.

Step four

Stack the strips on top of each other, with the green shape at one end of the stack. Thread a split pin through the top and bottom holes and secure by flattening the ends.

Step five

Carefully separate each strip and gently fan them out one at a time to form a round tomato.

Make as many tomatoes as you need for a mess-free tomato fight and celebrate La Tomatina at home!

Feeling inspired? Check out last month’s Lonely Planet Kids activity.

Rainy day activity: make mess-free tomatoes for La Tomatina festival

It's time to go green for St Patrick's Day! In Ireland and around the world on 17 March, people celebrate the life of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Festivities come alive with parades and parties decorated in all things green.

Legend has it that St Patrick once drove all the snakes out of Ireland! He was mostly known for using a green three-leafed shamrock to represent the Christian Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This is why the colour green is associated with the festival.

You can join in too by taking part in our green-themed scavenger hunt! How many of the items from the list below can you find? You can even print out our activity sheet for your hunt. On your marks, get set, go!

Find something green that you can eat

Find something green used in the kitchen

Find something green from another country

Find something green that grows

Find something green that you can draw with

Find something green and soft

Find something green outdoors

Find something green that you can wear

Name a shade of green

Name a country that has green on its flag

Name an animal that is green

Finally, can you find something green that doesn’t fit in any of the categories above?

Share a snap of your scavenger hunt with us on Facebook or Twitter!

Feeling inspired? Check out last month’s Lonely Planet Kids activity.

Rainy day activity: St Patrick's Day scavenger hunt

On 4 July the United States of America celebrates its Independence Day. Let your little ones join the party with our fun Lonely Planet Kids craft activity.

In the USA, 4 July is important because it marks freedom from British rule and the union of all the states across the country. People celebrate with parades, fireworks, picnics and barbecues with family and friends. Some people dress in red, white and blue.

The American flag is famous for its stars and stripes and can be seen everywhere on Independence Day. Create your own fun flag with our activity sheet, or follow the instructions below!

You will need:

Red, white and blue acrylic paint
Card
PVA glue
White or silver star stickers
11 ice lolly / Popsicle sticks

Step one

Paint your sticks red and white alternatively and leave to dry, making sure to leave the left corner of the first four sticks blank for the blue part of the flag and stars in the top left corner.

Step two

Paint the blue part of the flag on the top four sticks.

Step three

Once your paint has dried, glue all of the sticks onto the piece of card.

Step four

For the handle, glue two sticks together back to back. For extra thickness, repeat with two more sticks, then glue the four sticks next to one another. Glue them onto the bottom left of the flag.

Step five

You’ve made your stripes, so now it’s time to add your starry stickers! Stick the stars onto the blue patch and then add extra sparkle by placing stars on the flag’s handle too. You’re all set to wave your flag in style!

Feeling inspired? Check out last month’s Lonely Planet Kids activity.

Kids Blog Posts

Escaping Planet Earth: how to build a space rocket

The Plastic Problem: beach clean-ups for Global Recycling Day

Rainy day activity: Venice Regatta origami paper boat

Build a Chinese dragon for Chinese New Year

Rainy day activity: sketch and colour for Peru’s Inti Raymi festival

Rainy day activity: flower pressing for Morocco’s Rose Festival

Rainy day activity: make mess-free tomatoes for La Tomatina festival

Rainy day activity: St Patrick's Day scavenger hunt

Rainy day activity: make your own American flag

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