Rockets are fun, but flying ones are better! Here is a fun paper cup flying rocket craft that gives kids the feel of launching a real rocket!

Whenever there’s a rocket launch happening somewhere in the world, most of us stay glued to our TV screens for one purpose – to see the countdown!

There’s something incredibly exciting about hearing the numbers being counted down and watching the rocket launch upward – it’s a magical moment! I can’t begin to imagine how it feels for the scientists who’ve actually worked over several months to make this moment happen!

Well, if you’d like to launch your own rocket, we’ve found a way – a cute paper cup flying rocket craft! Yes, you don’t need any high-end tech to make this rocket launcher – just a paper cup, elastic bands and a few wooden dowel pins are enough!

Contents show

Playful Paper Cup Flying Rocket Craft for Kids

Supplies required:

Colored craft papers
Paper cups
Wooden dowel pins
Craft glue
Pencil
A pair of scissors
Craft sticks
Elastic bands
Awl

How to make the Paper Cup Flying Rocket Craft:

1. Download and print the Paper Cup Flying Rocket Craft Template. The template includes parts of our flying rocket, such as a 3/4 circle to make a cone, fins, circles and flame cutouts.

2. Trace the parts of the template on craft paper of the appropriate colors and cut them out. You can use pretty much any color you like for the cone and fins, although it’s better to choose yellow and orange for the flame cutouts. Keep these aside for now.

3. Let’s move on to the base of our paper cup flying rocket craft. Take a paper cup – if the paper cup is too light, use two cups – for the rocket base. We also need 2 elastic bands and 4 wooden dowel pins to make the rocket base.

4. Use an awl to make 4 holes half an inch away from the edge of the open mouth of the paper cup. All 4 holes should be equidistant from each other.

5. Take one of the elastic bands and insert its lopped end through one of the holes, from the outside.

6. Fix a wooden dowel pin to the part of the elastic band outside the paper cup and pull the rest of the band all the way inside.

7. Now, take the part of the elastic band that’s inside the cup and pull it all the way to the hole opposite to the first one.

8. Secure the end of the elastic band outside the paper cup with another wooden dowel pin.

9. Repeat Steps 5-8 with the other elastic band and the remaining two holes on the paper cup. You will end up with criss-crossed elastic bands as shown below.

10. Take another paper cup and cover it with black craft paper.

11. It’s time to bring back the parts of our paper cup flying rocket craft template! Stick the small flame cutout inside the big flame cutout.

12. Stick the paper flame pattern to the black paper-covered cup, leaving half an inch from the closed end of the cup. The pointy edge of the flame pattern should face towards the open side of the cup.

13. Moving on to the cone shape – apply glue along one of the open sides of the cone. Now fold the other open side of the cone and stick it over the glued edge so you have a cone. This is the nose of the paper cup rocket. Take the 2 fin cutouts and make thin folds along the vertical edges.

14. Apply glue on the folded edges and stick the flaps to the sides of the plain, uncovered paper cup. Attach the paper cone to the base of the paper cup with glue.

15. Stick the circle cutouts on the rocket base, vertically below the nose.

16. Place the paper cup flying rocket craft on top of the flame paper cup.

17. To make your rocket fly, hold the paper cup rocket near its bottom open end with both hands, pull it downward, and quickly let go with both hands to launch the rocket.

How much fun is that? Don’t forget to count down before launching your paper cup flying rocket craft – it makes the experience so much better! This is a great craft to make when kids are learning about outer space, or simply when kids are bored. Who knows, this might just lead them into a whole new world to learn and explore!

If you like rockets, you may enjoy making these rocket-themed crafts: