Learn about cool technology in air and space with these exciting activities!

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An illustration of a white adult woman with green hair holding a small red drone. Four small children circle her. Their expressions are ones of joy. The drawing is in a whimsical style.

Fun with Drones

Story Time Video  |  Ages 4 and Up

A young girl maneuvers a model plane through an obstacle course made of cups and boxes. She sit with her back to the camera on grey carpeting.

Make a Mini Obstacle Course

Make Believe  |  Ages 6 and Up

A robotic telescope, which looks like a camera in a silver rectangle box, mounted on a bracket that allows rotation, stands in rocky terrain.

Be a Space Photographer

Online Activity  |  Ages 11 and Up

Story Time Video | Ages 4 and Up

Fun with Drones

Join three friends to watch a drone obstacle course competition in this original story. 

We want to hear from you!

Optional
Wing delivery drone No. A1229

Air and Space Connection

Drones can also make deliveries. 

Delivery drones combine lightweight materials, smart technology, and special designs. The goal is to make air delivery safe and faster.

This drone made the first home delivery approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

A young girl maneuvers a model plane through an obstacle course made of cups and boxes. She sit with her back to the camera on grey carpeting.

Make Believe | Ages 6 and up, with help from a grownup

Make a Mini Obstacle Course

Your "drone" can soar through rings and dodge obstacles. Your goal is to deliver a package safely and quickly.

What You'll Need: 

  • Small boxes or books
  • Paper or cardboard
  • Tape (clear or colored)
  • String or yarn
  • Plastic cups or building blocks
  • Markers or stickers for decoration
  • Whatever building materials you have at home like magnetic tiles and connector blocks
  • Optional: Small toy to be the "drone"

Step 1: Choose what you'll use as your "delivery drone." It could be a toy you already have or you can make one out of cardboard.

Step 2: Choose an open area in your home to set up your obstacle course. Make sure it's a safe place that's not in a main walkway of your home. It could be a table, the floor or you could use a big piece of cardboard.

Step 3: Make a start and end point and add them to your course area. Mark the start point with green and the end point in red. 

Step 4: Create the obstacles. Think about what a delivery drone might encounter in your neighborhood. 

  • Does your neighborhood have: Bridges? Tall buildings or trees? Electric lines?
  • Use your materials to create these obstacles.

Step 5: Add the following challenges:

  • Make one area of your obstacle course one-way only. You can use tape to put a dashed line on the floor.
  • Add a charging area and pretend your drone needs to recharge between the start and end point. 

Step 6: Test out your course by flying your drone from the starting point, through the course and to the end point. 

Step 7: Share your creation with a friend or family member and have them fly a drone through the course. An extra challenge is to time yourself and others to see who can deliver their package quickly and safely. 

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Optional
A purple image with bright spots representing stars clustered near the center.

Online Activity | Ages 11 and Up

Be a Space Photographer

Imagine you have a robot telescope that lives far away from you, but you can tell it what to look at in the sky. That’s what the Smithsonian MicroObservatory is!

Learn how to use astronomer tools, control a real telescope online, and capture your own images of space. 

What You'll Need: 

  • A computer
  • An email address
Start Controlling a Radio Telescope

Tip 1. When you choose where to look: If an object is grey, it isn't visible right now. Choose one that has the "Observe" button and is bright. 

Tip 2. After picking your target, the “Adjust Your Telescope Settings” page will automatically open. 

  • For each setting (like how long the photo is taken or exposure), if there’s only one choice, keep it—it’s the best one!
  • Try out a couple of selections. A green check means it's good; red means it might be too bright or too dark, so you can try again.
  • If there are color filters (like red, green, blue), you can pick all to make a colorful picture!

Tip 3. After you select your telescope setting and click continue, fill out the form and then click submit. The telescope will snap your picture that night and email it to you—usually the next day! 

Tip 4. While you wait for your image to arrive, explore pictures that others have taken!

Check Out Other Images

Tip 5. Once you get your image, you can open it in the website's special software to adjust brightness, contrast, or color of the image.

We want to hear from you!

Optional
A robotic telescope, which looks like a camera in a silver rectangle box, mounted on a bracket that allows rotation, stands in rocky terrain.

Air and Space Connection: Robotic Telescopes

  • Telescopes collect light from faraway objects so we can see them clearly.
  • There are five MicroObservatory telescopes in Arizona and Massachusetts that are controlled remotely by computers.
  • Each is about 3 feet tall with a 6-inch mirror that gathers light.
  • These robotic telescopes use sensors similar to digital cameras instead of eyepieces.
  • The telescopes were developed by scientists and educators at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Soar Together at Air and Space is made possible by the generous support of the Northrop Grumman Foundation.