Alien and Spaceship Finger Puppet Playset

Felt Alien Playset

Greetings Earthlings!  We're here in peace and friendship!  What can you teach us about your world today? 

These alien cuties were part of our Alien Birthday Party.  We hid the aliens in a spaceship pinata and the spaceships were in a "deep space" party room. 

How-to Hints:  Trace and cut the pieces from the pattern below, using a thin, transparent material for the cockpit and regular felt for the others. I used dark gray for the cockpit border and sparkle felt for added dazzle on the spaceship.  Sew the front cockpit piece to its edge.  Then, sew the back cockpit piece to the edge and one of the spaceship pieces (3 pieces together). I used silver thread and a zig zag stitch for added bling. Align the cockpit pieces inside out and sew together with a regular stitch.  Turn cockpit right-side out and sew last piece of space ship to the front along the outside edge so that the middle remains open for the aliens to fit inside (black thread).  Bright green felt worked well for the aliens, a straight forward copy-cut-sew from the pattern, with a bit of white and black fabric paint for the eyes. Lastly, I outlined the cockpit edge with glow in the dark fabric paint for nighttime fun.

Aliens and Spaceship Playset

For an Alien story to go with these, try Space Case, by Edward Marshall, is a light hearted tale of an alien that visits Earth.  Lucky for him, it is Halloween, so he fits right in. He even gets invited to sleep over!  He has great fun with his new Earthling friend, and helps him with his science project before he heads home.  Great for bed time by tickling that "what if" imagination!

We can't give Alexis Deacon's Beegu enough praise.  This is one heart warming alien book for little people and the grown ups that love them!  Beegu is estranged from her family when her spaceship crashes. The story is about her adventure on earth as she seeks new friends that mostly find her strange and unloveable. Her refuge is the children, who adore her, of course! Her parents eventually find her and she recounts the whole tale to them. My kids especially love the recounting as it is told in alien language, little pictographs of her whole experience.  The words are few, the feeling is deep. Beegu will miss the little ones, the story goes, but we all end up carrying her in our hearts after reading this story!

We are Nancy Shaw fans, so Sheep Blast Off! is a natural favorite. The silly sheep get into trouble when they climb aboard a crashed alien ship. Not to worry though. When the aliens wake up and find the sheep in charge, they quickly take over without the sheep ever realizing what happened!

Does Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman really need an introduction? A brightly illustrated story about aliens landing on earth to steal underpants has instant boy appeal. Pure silliness! There are three books in the series, with Aliens in Underpants Save the World and Aliens Love Panta Claus.

Alien Spaceship Finger Puppet Playset Pattern by

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Space Alien Rescue Birthday Party

Thank you for coming, everyone! While we wait for the last guests to arrive, step in here and color your mothership calling device. I'll explain that later... 

Coloring noisemakers while waiting for guests to arrive.

Noisemakers to be used later to call in the mothership.

We have an emergency situation here. NASA will be contacting us on this special computer. They need our help!  They have 8 missions for us.  Are you ready to head outside and get to work?

Laptop made from cardboard shipping boxes.  Glow in the dark paint initials for deep space!

My son helped decorate the computer.  We printed the 8 missions  and slipped them inside.

The missions were numbered, but to aid in quick identification, I put them in rainbow order.

Outside, our alien rescue heroes await instruction.

Mission 1:  FIND ABDUCTED ALIENS

Aliens on an expedition to research planet Earth have been captured by an evil politician who has imprisoned them in tiny containers which are hidden in the backyard.  Can you be heroic by rescuing one alien prisoner each?

Alien babies captured in tiny containers, each individually marked.

Alien babies rescued!

 Mission 2:  FIND AND RELEASE ALIEN SPACE CRAFT

The evil politician has also hijacked the alien’s space craft.  Find the right spaceship by matching the symbol on top of your alien container to the symbol on the bottom of the spaceship.  Don’t touch the spaceship yet though, as the politician has set a trap!

Alien spaceships were distributed throughout the yard.  The boys needed to find the ship with the same symbol as their alien, then use a blaster to free the ship.

You will need to use the BLASTERs to destroy the holding mechanisms to safely release the spaceships.  There are 10 targets that must be neutralized.

Pre-filled with water, these blasters were ready for action.

Aim at the target! Blast it til the paint runs off, then collect your alien's spaceship!

Misson 3:  SEND ALIENS HOME

The aliens are almost free! Meet launch pad supervisor in front yard to blast the alien craft back through the milky way and beyond.  Watch out for asteroids (small bodies that orbit the sun)!

Sending the aliens home (frisbee toss the spaceships).

On the way, the spaceships passed through the asteroid belt (pop rocks) , the milky way galaxy (mini candies of the same name), and through the stars into deep space (starburst).

Misson 4:  SHOOT THE STAR

Particles of debris (sand or dirt) have flown off the alien saucers as they left the earth.  As these particles fall back to earth’s atmosphere (gravity), they burn up and cause what we know as a shooting star.  Meet in the driveway to see how far your shooting star can go...

Shooting stars were cardboard tubes sprayed gold with construction paper flames on one end.

The goal of the game was to toss the "shooting star" like a javelin and see how far it could go.

The boys enjoyed this game so much, they played it four times, taking turns to "shoot" their "stars."

The "particle" that caused the shooting star was a beaded alien zipper pull  made by my son and I. We wrapped it carefully in tissue paper and stuffed them inside cardboard tubes. The prizes weren't noticed until the very end!

Misson 5:  BLACK HOLE ENCOUNTER
Oh no!  We've just received transmissions indicating that the flying saucers are have encountered a black hole (a region in space time where gravity consumes everything, even light)!  Assist your alien craft by obliterating this space nuisance!

Obliterating the black holes... (chocolate donuts on string, try to eat with no hands).

 Misson 6:  DODGING COMETS

The flying saucers have landed on comets for a brief moment to repair their ships after narrowly escaping the black holes.… Can you guide them on zooming comets (icy solar system debris that leave  stunning, lighted tails) past any erratic asteroids?  Be sure to keep your comet’s tails from touching the ground!

Flying comets:  ribbon wands

The boys truly loved this game, too! They ran, and ran and ran...

until at least one comet stopped to rest!

Misson 7:  PROJECT DEEP SPACE

Thanks to your help, the flying saucers are now free and into deep space!  Want to go and have a look? Head inside (remove your shoes please!) and be sure to look out for other flying saucers, alien eggs, and shooting stars!

"Deep space" was a bedroom with dozens of stars illuminated by black light.

The boys gathered objects like glow bracelets and enjoyed the out of this world atmosphere!

Treasure included glow in the dark toys.

A rare find!  Alien eggs! (Splat throwing toys inside DYI ornaments shells decorated with  glow in the dark paint.)

*******INTER-MISSION:  CAKE, SNACKS, AND PRESENTS BREAK*******

Is anyone hungry after all that rescue work?  Head to the break room for cake and snacks!  We had build-your-own spaceship cracker sandwiches (circle shaped crackers, cheese, tomatoes, and turkey), along with assorted other snacks and cake.

Scrumptious Oreo planet cake!

Misson 8:  SUMMON THE MOTHERSHIP

The alien parents want to thank the rescuers but aren't sure where to land!  It is time to bring out your alien spaceship callers.  Meet in the front yard to see if we can summon the mothership!

swing the noisemakers to get a buzzing sound

spread out and make the sounds together

Our puppy Lilly had to add her own sound...

Success! The motherhip is coming!

Inside the pinata/mothership were parent aliens, puppets and candy.

And then the kids' own motherships (and fatherships) began to arrive... THE END!  Or was it?  I'm happy to report that one Mom says her astronaut is still playing...

Puppets used in this party were astronauts, alien and spaceship playsets, and aliens. Alien invitations are found here.

Astronaut Felt Finger Puppets

With their simple design and easy-to-cut pieces, these astronauts have quickly become a favorite of mine! We've used them as party favors for our Alien Party (inside a pinata), as souvenirs for a field trip, and treats for a space-themed walk-a-thon!

How to's: You need the template below, three colors of felt (white, blue, and sparkly black), some fabric paints (control panel), and some 1/4 inch wide ribbon.  It worked easiest for me to cut the ribbon into lengths of and position them in an X with a dot of glue. After those were dry, I set the ready to sew pieces on top with another dab of glue. Then I folded over the ribbons and secured them under the control panel.  When all was dry, I sewed them up, trimmed them, and added the fabric paint details.

Here are a couple of stories to try with it...

Written by former astronaut Mike Kelly, the almost true story of Mousetronaut is a cute little underdog story.  The littlest mouse is included on a space adventure even though he isn't the biggest and strongest.  He was noticed because he worked hard!  In the end, his size is exactly what is needed to solve a critical problem on board.  A great story for one of those days when your child is frustrated by being little!

Hedgie Blasts Off, by Jan Brett, is a fun little story about a hedgehog that wanted to be an astronaut but wasn't allowed, until one day when an opportunity arrived.  Hedgie got the job done!  Nice sparkle pages add to the kid-friendliness of the book.

Also try Meghan McCarthy's Astronaut Handbook for a non-fiction guide to the astronaut business and  Joan Sweeney's Me and My Place in Space for a great introduction to the universe for kids, starting with the planets and then to the stars.

   

Astronaut Finger Puppet Pattern by C.A. Leu