Astronaut

Total Time Needed:: 1 Hour

Meticulously constructed from household items including a plastic bucket (helmet), a dish towel (helmet padding), and rubber boots (space boots), this little space traveler is out of this world. For detailed illustrations of the various parts of this costume, click here.

Materials

Pencil
Plastic bucket (3½- gallon, 14-quart, or 12-quart sizes work well)
Hammer and nail
Wire cutters
Craft knife
8- by 12-inch piece of foam board
White duct tape
Dish towel

2 white 1-gallon plastic milk jugs
White plastic utensil tray
Adhesive-backed Velcro
¾-inch-wide clear plastic tube cut into two 3-foot lengths (sold in many hardware stores)
Blind-spot mirrors and reflectors (sold in many hardware stores)
White turtleneck and sweatpants
Flag and letter stickers
Rubber boots

Instructions

To make an astronaut helmet, draw an oval face opening (at least 7 inches wide by 5 inches high) in pencil on the plastic bucket. Use a hammer and a nail to make a pilot hole in the plastic, then cut out the oval with wire cutters. With a craft knife, cut out two 2- by 9-inch foam-board rectangles to use as helmet braces (a parent or other adult's job). Round off the lower corners and duct-tape the tops against the inside of the helmet.
Roll up a dish towel, wrap it around your child's head, and tape it closed to form a ring. Remove the towel ring from your child's head and tape it inside the top of the helmet. (When it's time to wear the helmet, lower it straight down so the towel ring fits onto your child's head and the foam braces slide between the space pack and his back.)
For a space pack, wrap white duct tape around two empty milk jug air tanks to hold them together. Then fashion four 17-inch-long duct tape straps (as described in the Slime Bucket directions). Use two of the straps as suspenders to connect the air tanks to the plastic utensil tray control panel, taping the ends securely. Have your child try on the space pack, and adjust the suspender lengths if necessary.
Use the remaining two straps as side bindings that extend from the air tanks to the sides of the control panel. Once you've taped them to the back of the jugs, have your child try on the pack again to determine the right strap length (there should be little slack). Trim the straps if needed and attach the free ends to the inside of the utensil tray with adhesive-backed Velcro.
Use a craft knife to cut an asterisk shape in both sides of the utensil tray (adults only). Push one end of one of the clear plastic tubes through each hole and insert the opposite ends into the milk jug tops, taping them in place. Finally, decorate the space pack with mirrors and reflectors, and attach stickers to the turtleneck, sweatpants, boots, and helmet.