Solar System Games

Make A Solar System

• Get kids excited about learning about the world and their universe by sending them online to play a game that enables them to create their own solar system. The main screen boasts only a sun and players move around on the screen adding stars, asteroids and comets as they see fit. Create a solar system that genuinely reflects our home, the Milky Way, or encourage kids to make a pretend universe they'd like to call home. Planets move around the stars and asteroid belts glitter against the screen's night time sky. Only basic mouse skills and a desire to create are required to play this game.

Juno Quest

• Juno Quest is a online game offered by the NASA website. Bright, colorful images and graphics stimulate kids while they play. Techno music plays in the background and a clock ticks away on the screen challenging each player to beat it. In this game players are astronauts on a mission to explore the planet Jupiter. They operate a spacecraft sent into outer space to record data as it circles the planet. Four different colored bars drop down the screen while you "orbit" and you're goal is to collect these bars and store them in the sidebar. Once you've collected enough bars of one color, that color's data is released to you. Be careful not to grab the yellow and black striped caution blocks as these carry radiation and damage your spacecraft. Collect all necessary data before time runs out and celebrate that you bravely beat your computer opponent

Solar System Memory Matching

• Engage preschoolers and young children about the solar system by making your own homemade game. Brightly colored card stock such as blue, yellow or red works well. Begin by using a ruler to draw 3-by-3-inch squares onto the paper. Define these lines with a red or blue marker. The next step is to decorate each square with images that reflect the solar system. Specific planets, a star, the sun or moon, an asteroid or comet are all applicable options. You can even add a space shuttle, astronaut or satellite if desired. Draw these images free-hand, clip them out of magazines or newspapers or simply use stickers to create the desired result. You need at least two of each image. Once every square is full, cut out each one, flip it over and mix the cards up on the floor. Separate all squares into rows and have fun turning them over one at a time trying to find a matching image card.

Build Your Own Time Machine

• The Science Channel's website offers a variety of educational and entertaining solar system games to engage kids. Build Your Own Time Machine introduces students to the idea of time and how it moves at different speeds dependent upon their location and its gravity. Lively human characters guide players through a six steps and help them complete building a time machine. Interesting facts are revealed through engaging story telling as kids move through each level. This game also requires that players use their newly acquired knowledge to solve problems or answer questions before moving on to the next step.