Space activities EYFS – Non-fiction, instruction writing & more

What's included?

Word docs and PDFs

Key Stage

Early Years

Age

Year R

Subjects

This detailed two-week topic for Reception focuses on the topic of space. The EYFS space activities set out in the document integrate literacy, creativity and exploration.

Week 1: Learning about planets

Focus: Understanding the difference between fiction and non-fiction, exploring planets and creating factual posters.

Activities include:

Watching a story, “The Baby and the Rocket,” to discuss fact vs. fiction.
Using mnemonics to remember the order of planets.
Making posters about planets using facts and visuals.
Exploring the solar system through books and interactive play.
Associated play includes role-playing as astronauts, designing planets and constructing models.

Week 2: Rockets and instructions

Focus: Discovering the features of rockets and writing instructions for building them.

Activities include:

Shared reading of instructional texts and identifying key features like bossy verbs.
Creating descriptive labels for rockets and noting their features.
Building a large classroom rocket as a group project, with each child contributing.
Interactive games like rocket hopscotch and memory-based planet sorting.

Key objectives for EYFS space activities

Literacy: Distinguishing between fact and fiction, vocabulary development and writing captions, sentences, and labels.
Creative expression: Designing rockets and planets, role-play and collaborative projects.
Physical development: Engaging in outdoor play and movement activities like creating spacecraft setups.

Hamilton Trust is a UK charity working to support inspirational teaching and learning through its website and projects. Find more of its great resources at hamilton-trust.org.uk and follow on X at @HamiltonTrust. Browse more resources for World Space Week.