There’s various astronaut coloring pages here, something to suit your child’s coloring abilities. Maybe they dream of going into space, or they want to step foot on the moon, these images allow their imaginations to run wild.

You can talk about how rockets get into space, how Neil Armstrong’s footprint is still on the moon from the first landing, and how to drink water in gravity.

Even the littlest details like how a pen works in space, when it relies on gravity for the ink to flow? If you are feeling brave, you could even venture into how to use the bathroom when in space.

When we look up at the moon from Earth, it changes shape over the space of 28 days. To look more about why the moon doesn’t always appear full (or round) check out this great resource at What Are the Moon’s Phases? over at the NSA Science website.

There’s so many games to play or things to think about as your child enjoys their space coloring pages. What will they color after an astronaut? What planet do they want to visit first?

What would it be like if you could hang off the moon or catch a star? Or if you tried to sneak it back to Earth with you! The havoc it would cause when the tides in the ocean went all wrong.

Coloring is more than just being creative on the paper – it’s an opportunity to be creative in the stories that it tells.

You could ride on a shooting star, or hide your cat in your luggage. Or just float amongst the stars. How many can you count? Can you find any constellations?

At the end of the day, our little astronaut is tired. It’s no wonder with so much to do in space. Time to lay back on a comfy cushion and get some shut eye among the stars. What will he or she dream of doing tomorrow?

It takes a lot of power to get a rocket off the ground to space. Once there, it can move easily without air, causing resistance. A couple of bursts of power, and it will carry on drifting by itself.

Here are a couple more rocket coloring page designs, whether you want something simple or with a little more detail.

What’s a space coloring page without a planet or moon in it?

Would you take your pet to space or your best friend? Do you think it would be scary or fun?

It sounds like fun to talk about it, but I think I’m happy to look up at the stars and moon from home. It’s a great time to discuss why humans want to travel in space and why they are looking for somewhere else to live. It highlights how important it is to look after our own planet Earth.

Another great point for discussion with your kids: Do you think it’s fair to take animals into space? Should we test things we aren’t sure about first on animals?

Thankfully these animals in space coloring pages are just a bit of fun, phew! No animals are going to be hurt here.

Imagine your own pets or favorite TV characters – would they enjoy space? I know one of my chihuahua’s would hate it. He barely tolerates the car. The other one, as long as he was cuddled up to me, he would think it an adventure.

A few more to tickle your fancy. We have had cats, dogs, foxes, mice, sloths, hamsters and others in space. I wonder if anyone packed the cheese for the mouse? No worries if not, maybe he can have a nibble of the moon.

There are so many options when it comes to animal colouring pages in space. Koala bears look cute anywhere, anytime.

Do you know the difference between an asteroid and a comet? Comets are known as ‘dirty snowballs’ because they are made up of ice and rock. Asteroids are made of rock and sometimes include metal. Do you know which one is considered more dangerous?

Coloring in stars can be great for smaller kids. These simple coloring pages are also great for glitter, or watercolors.

Or print them out at size 50% so they can glue onto some card stock to make cards. A great way to make a handmade birthday or Christmas card for friends and relatives.

Use this as a moment to discuss the statistical likelihood of life out there and what it means for humans. Or discuss what your religion or belief system says about other life forms.

You could talk about how you would communicate with an alien. They don’t know our languages, tones, voices, or culture. Think about how you could communicate peace, or how some of the things we do as humans probably look really funny to an alien that doesn’t understand our planet.

There are so many possibilities for spending an afternoon with these space coloring pages. Print out some extra for a rainy day activity.