🚁 Build Your Own Mars Helicopter – A STEM Adventure for Kids!

Ready to launch your imagination into space? 🌌 With just a few simple supplies and a sense of adventure, your child can create a mini model of NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity—the first aircraft to fly on another planet!

Designed for ages 6-12, this fun 30-minute activity combines creativity, hands-on building, and space science. Kids will learn how Ingenuity was engineered to fly in the thin Martian atmosphere and how it helped pave the way for future space exploration.

🧪 What You'll Need:

• 1 large marshmallow (for the body of the helicopter)

• 4 small marshmallows (for the landing legs)

• 5 toothpicks

• Cardstock or stiff paper (to make helicopter parts)

• Scissors

• Optional: A printed image of Mars for display

🛠 Step-by-Step Instructions:

Kids will use the marshmallows and toothpicks to build the base and legs of their own mini Ingenuity, then cut out and assemble the rotor blades and solar panel. The final touch? Mounting it on a picture of the Martian surface!

1. Make the Body:
   Use the large marshmallow as the helicopter’s main body (fuselage).

2. Add the Legs:
   Stick 4 toothpicks into the sides of the marshmallow at angles to form the landing legs.

3. Attach Leg Ends:
   Place a small marshmallow on the end of each leg toothpick.

4. Print & Cut Parts:
   Print the final page of the NASA document on cardstock. Cut out 1 solar panel and 2 rotor blades per helicopter.

5. Poke Holes:
   Use a pushpin to poke a small hole in the center of each cut-out part (solar panel + rotor blades).

6. Build Rotor:
   Slide a new toothpick through one rotor blade (about ¾" from the tip), then through the second blade, spaced about ⅛" apart and turned perpendicular.

7. Add the Solar Panel:
   Push the same toothpick through the center of the solar panel. Leave ¼" sticking out the top (this represents the antenna).

8. Assemble the Helicopter:
   Push the bottom end of the rotor toothpick into the top of the large marshmallow.

9. Optional Display:
   Place your finished model on a printed Mars photo for a cool space scene!

Not only is this craft a great way to spark curiosity about space, it’s also a clever introduction to STEM topics like engineering, flight, and solar power. 🚀

👩🚀 Want to Take It Further?

Explore real images of Mars taken by NASA and place your model on a Martian landscape! You can find inspiration and photos here:
🔗 NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Gallery

📚 Educational Benefits:

• Encourages creative play and problem-solving

• Introduces kids to real-world NASA missions

• Teaches basic engineering concepts

• Supports fine motor skills through building and cutting

📝 Source Credit:

This activity is adapted from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory educational resource:
"Build Your Own Mars Helicopter" – available at mars.nasa.gov.