As a child, I always wanted to see a Moon Rock. There’s just something fascinating about the moon and outer space. So when my son started asking questions about that big ol’ rock in the sky, I decided to make our own version with these DIY Moon Rocks.
This easy play recipe takes some Moon Sand and adds a bit more moisture to make it moldable to form into rocks. We made them black with some shiny glitter to simulate the sun reflecting off the surface of the moon.
DIY Moon Rocks
What you need to make DIY Moon Rocks:
- 4 cups baking soda
- 1/4 cup water
- Gold and Silver glitter
- Black food coloring
In a large plastic bin, mix together the baking soda and water. Add lots of glitter and some food coloring and stir together.
You can let your kids explore this easy Moon Sand for a bit (warning: their hands will get messy because of the food coloring!), or you can go right to making your rocks.
Mold the sand with your hand to shape it into rocks. We pressed our fingers into it to form craters on the surface.
Allow to dry overnight.
The rocks will be brittle, but kids will love examining them!
They’re much prettier than the Moon Rocks retrieved by astronauts aboard the six landing Apollo missions. Those rocks are stored at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
My son loved learning about the rocks, and how they have to be kept in Nitrogen so that they won’t get moisture. We talked about how adding moisture to the Moon Rocks would change their composition and cause them to fall apart. We even tried adding some water to our own DIY Moon Rocks!
Now that you’ve made Moon Rocks, share photos with us on our Facebook page. Then, head over to our blog for even more space activities for kids!
Check out all of our fun Space themed activities:
Space Activities and Printables
Hi, mine keeps coming out green when I mix all the ingredients together. What could I be doing wrong?
How many moon rocks does one recipe make?
Hi Susan,
It would just depend on how big they are. You could possibly make 3-5 or so. Thanks!
its the colorant if you have mica use that instead or you can get it on amazon really cheap less than 4.00.
They look awesome!
How hard are the rocks? Can you crack them with a rubber mallet. I mircrowaved play dough moon rocks and put a red heart jewel (for Jesus) in the middles. I am going to use them for VBS.
Great Idea!
I’m confused with your DIY Moon Rock recipe….. do you add the baking soda, water, glitter, and food coloring to the moon sand recipe that comes from the link you provided? It didn’t specify where you listed the items needed….. so I wanted to double check. Thanks! 🙂
My rocks won’t form, they keep crumbling. I added more water, but they’re not holding together enough to stay in shape to dry. Any suggestions?
Oh man. I’ve never had that happen. Let me see what I can figure out for you.
Because it says 4 cups for 1/4 cup water but she is using a 2 cup box. Swe tried to half this at library today and it was far totoo but much baking soda for such little water. We added more water and it stuck
I am very confused with the recipe because in the video the steps are not in the same way like the steps that are written, all of them are in other sequence, it doesn’t make sense to me.
Can you use bicarbonate of soda instead of baking powder
Yes. You just have to remember the rule of thumb: baking soda (bicargonate of soda) is three times as powerful as baking powder. So if the original recipe calls for 3 teaspoons of baking powder, you only need a teaspoon of baking soda as substitute. You will also need a teaspoon of acid (such as vinegar or lemon juice) for every 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
could I dry the rocks in the oven to speed up the process?
If you do, I’d reccomend only on a very low heat setting and not for too long. Maybe 15 mintues at 175-185 degrees F