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!
Twirl, leap, coast and spin! The skating rink is open and you’re invited to strut your stuff, courtesy of a magnet attached to the bottom of a toilet paper tube skater. If things start to get a little chilly, glide through our cozy hot chocolate shack for a fill up!
We read Little Red Gliding Hood, written by Tara Lazar, and illustrated by Troy Cummings (Random House, 2015). Little Red is a great skater, but her ice skates have definitely seen better days. When a skating competition is announced, along with a prize of brand new skates, Little Red is thrilled. Unfortunately, it’s a pairs skating competition, and she has no partner. Unfortunately, while searching for a partner, she encounters the Big Bad Wolf! After a face-paced and spirited chase across the ice, he finally catches her. But he’s not going to eat her…he just wanted to tell her that her laces were untied! Turns out the not-so-bad Wolf needs new skates too, and he’s a great skater to boot. The day of the competition, Little Red and the Wolf enter the completion. They put on such a great performance, the judges give them a perfect 10 and the grand prize!
Next, use construction paper and markers to turn your tubes into a pair of ice skaters. In keeping with the book, one of our skaters was Little Red, and the other was the Big Bad Wolf. Katie put this adorable duo together, and added a bit of red ribbon for Red’s hood and the Wolf’s sash.
Hot glue a button magnet to the bottom of each tube.The bigger the magnet, the better the results on the rink! Our magnets were 0.75″ in diameter. We tried smaller ones, but they just couldn’t keep the connection.
Next, hot glue button magnets to the bottoms of 2 corks (but test to make sure the skater magnets and the wand magnets attract before hot gluing them to the corks). We used champagne corks because they have a bulge at the bottom that was easier for little kids to grip. But wine corks work too.
Now for the hot chocolate shack! Cut the bottom and 2 sides off a small tissue box. Your shack should have no floor, and the doorways should be tall enough for your skaters to glide through easily.
We used tagboard for the sides of the shack and the roof, but construction paper works too. Cut and color the sign and 2 windows from the shack template and attach them to the shack. We reinforced the sides of the box by gluing craft sticks on above and below the windows and on both sides of the doorways. The final touch – a chimney- is totally optional. Cut a 
Place your skater on the top of the box, then place your magnet wand underneath the box. The magnets will connect through the cardboard, and you can start skating!
Plunk your hot chocolate shack down, crank up the Tchaikovsky, and skate!