This past weekend, a lot of New Hampshire saw its first big snow storm. But maybe where you are, you only got a couple of inches of snow or at this point it’s all turned to ice. So let’s celebrate the first big winter weather event with some indoor snow science activities!

In today’s Distance Learning Module, we explored the idea of microgravity and learned that scientists simulate this environment on Earth to help astronauts train for spacewalks. Follow up to the lesson with this all-ages activity, in which we create a “weightless” freefall with water. (Best performed outdoors—this will be messy!)

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our very first Facebook Live event, in celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 30th birthday! Faithe and Sarah had a blast presenting on live video feed about the history and significance of the Hubble Space Telescope. (Hubble launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.)

In this post, we share additional Hubble resources, to keep the learning coming all weekend. In particular, there are plenty of opportunities to dive deeper into the Cosmic Reef—which we are able to visit via the special Hubble image “Tapestry of Blazing Starbirth” that was publicly revealed for the first time on April 24, 2020.

Upcycle leftover packaging to create this cute all-ages cloud mobile!

Make your own celestial “dirty snowball” with common household materials!

a simple all-ages activity

Have you ever traveled far away from home? Did you send a postcard to your friends or family to share the experience with them? Let your imagination take you on a trip faaaaar from Earth, at the very boundaries of our solar system—what might THAT postcard look like?!

Open-ended all-ages activity, courtesy of NASA.

Turn April showers into an opportunity for at-home science! In this all-ages activity, learn how to track rainfall using a simple homemade rain gauge.

Adult supervision required—sharp objects utilized in one step.

Create your own world of mountains and valleys, and watch the effects of a rainstorm!

Appropriate for pre-k and up, with supervision (mess potential!)

Learn about orbits in our solar system by creating a simple, all-ages model.

Bid “happy retirement” to the Spitzer Space Telescope in this lesson all about an underappreciated substance in space (and our homes): DUST!

Includes activities appropriate for grade levels K-2 and 3-5

Create a scale model of the Earth and Sun with craft supplies in your own home!

This activity is a hands-on lesson in proportions, scale, and relative sizes in the solar system.

Geared toward middle- and high schoolers due to the mathematical component.