Tag Archives: alien

Once Upon a Time…in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

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The tale of Cinderella takes an intergalactic spin with this charming paper cup rocket. Never underestimate the power of a space ship. The story time kids LOVED this project!

We read Interstellar Cinderella, written by Deborah Underwood, and illustrated by Meg Hunt (Chronicle Books, 2015). When Cinderella, our tool-handy heroine, is kept from attending the Prince’s Royal Space Parade, she is visited by her Fairy Godrobot. Cinderella arrives to the parade just in time, as the Prince’s ship is malfunctioning and only she can fix it! Cinderella and the Prince have a blast talking mechanics, but she flees at midnight, leaving behind her sonic socket wrench. The Prince circles the galaxy, intent on finding the only person who can fix his ship. It’s Cinderella, and no, she doesn’t want to get married. She wants to be his chief mechanic!

You’ll need:

  • 1 paper cup
  • Space ship decor
  • Scissors, tape, and glue for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

As you can see, this rocket is a paper cup propped up on little legs. We had some extra Petri dish lids (leftover from this Hobbit door project) that made terrific windshields, but that’s totally optional!

For decor, we offered embossed foil paper, color mirror board, twisteez wire, star stickers, large gemstones, metallic mesh tubing, plastic cup boosters with tissue paper flames, and little plastic blocks for landing gear.

Ready for take off!

UFO Repairs While-U-Wait

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It’s a beautiful day in the galaxy, but if your spaceship’s hyperdrive starts to hyperdroop, bring it into our full service UFO repair station! We even clean windows!

We read We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang (Tundra Books, 2024). When a giant crash startles Mr. Li from his bed, and he discovers three strangers who assure him they are DEFINITELY human. A kind man at heart, Mr. Li invites the strangers back to his house and offers to help them repair their ship…errr…car. Soon, the whole community is pitching in, and the strangers depart for further adventures feeling good about the humans of planet Earth.

This book is totally hilarious, with perfect comedic timing in both its text and illustrations. It was an absolute pleasure to read aloud – make sure to leave time for laugh breaks!

You’ll need:

  • 2 sturdy paper plates
  • 1 strip of poster board (approximately 1.5″ x 22″)
  • 1 clear plastic drinking cup (I used a 2.75″ tall plastic cocktail glass)
  • Flying saucer decorating materials (more on this below!)
  • Scissors, stapler and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

The UFOs we crafted for this story time are almost identical to the zip line ships from this 2015 post (you’ll find the full instructions here). Basically, the UFO is two paper plates with a circlet of poster board between them, a plastic cup cockpit, and a lot of fun supplies (tin foil, embossed foil paper, sparkle stems, dot stickers, and some glitter stars).

finished saucer

We did makes some modifications. We skipped the rocket boosters underneath this time, swapped the pom pom alien for a toilet paper tube alien, and replaced the paperclip on top of the cockpit with a loop of clear beading cord.

But the thing that really made this story time one of the best of the year so far? The UFO repair shop!

I’ve been working with kids for decades, and sometimes I forget how powerful a box, tin foil, strand of lights, mesh tubing, and drinking straws can be. That’s basically all I used to create this repair shop. But the reaction to the set up was so powerful – customers lined up for a solid 20 minutes, coming back repeatedly with new and unique problems their UFOs were experiencing. I would hand them them the repair “wands” and we would boop and bleep our way to fixing the engines.

We also managed to do a bit of upcycling…you might recognize the strand of red lights from Katie’s awesome 2019 holiday creation, or the white coveralls from our story time stint as sanitation superstars.

Far Out Friend

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far out friend

Meet your new companion from a galaxy far, far away…and all it takes is two cups!

We read Your Alien, written by Tammi Sauer, and illustrated by Goro Fujita (Sterling, 2015). When an alien crash lands on earth, a boy adopts him. They have a total blast until bedtime, when the alien starts to cry for his parents. So the boy brings out ALL the holidays lights and decks out the house. It works! The relieved parents spot the signal in space, and the family is soon reunited.

You’ll need:

  • 1 paper cup
  • 1 plastic cocktail cup
  • Construction paper
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

First, wrap a paper cup with construction paper, then flip the cup upside down. Use markers to draw a face (or use an eye sticker, like we did). Drop a plastic cocktail cup helmet in place, and add an (optional) snippet of sparkle stem.

You and your new friend are ready to hang out!