On Common Ground at Fort York Sept. 21

On Saturday September 21 – 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM and 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, were

Build and Launch a Space Rocket with MakerKids! Limit of 40 kids per session.

For International Peace Day, Saturday September 21 12:30PM-1:30PM and 1:30PM-2:30PM, we will host a rocket launching activity during the On Common Ground Festivities at Fort York.

Kids will get to use craft materials such as foam, tape, glitter, construction paper, tubing and more to create their rockets, and then on a small flag that will be launched with their rocket, write a message of peace that they want to send to the world. They will launch their rockets in a field where replicas of the different planets and the International Space Station are laid out across the area, to see how far ‘into orbit’ their rocket can go and what planet they can reach.Once all the rockets have landed and the kids whose rockets went the farthest have been recognized, each kid will walk to the location where their rocket has landed, remove their flag with their message of peace on it, and then stick their flag into the nearest planet replica to where their rocket landed – as an astronaut would stick their country’s flag into the surface of the planet they have landed on.

International Peace Day is declared by the United Nations to be a day where citizens are encouraged to do acts of peace and for there to be global ceasefire. Previous projects have included transforming decommissioned weapons of destruction into works of art and peace. Rockets are an example of weapons technology that has been transformed to benefit humankind. Rocket engines power spacecraft to locations that can bring nations together in peace – outer space. The International Space Station is shared by many countries, and the Outer Space Treaty states that “the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind” and that “the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes”.