Mars Rock Dig
Bury balls of tin foil or large rocks in a sand box. The child who finds the most Mars rocks wins a prize.

Mars Rover, Mars Rover
Based on the Red Rover Game.

Make nametags with the picture and the name of a Space Shuttle or satellite on it. Attach a nametag to each player. Each player will assume the name of a Mars rover, a satellite or Space Shuttle, such as Spirit, Opportunity, Stardust, Hubble, Chandra, Atlantis and so on. Players will be known by the name on their tag for the duration of the party.

Two lines of players are formed, with each line having three or more players.

Each line joins hands then stands facing each other about 15 feet apart. One person calls "Mars Rover, Mars Rover, let Spirit," or one of the other names on the tags, "come over." The object is to keep the other team's person from breaking through your line. If they do not break the line, you keep them and they join your side. If they break through, you do not keep them. They get to choose a person to take back with them and join their team. The team with the most players wins.

Planet Piñata
This is a game that requires room and good supervision if played by children. The player is blindfolded (or not, if they are young and don't want to be.) The player takes a stick and tries to break a hanging container that has candies and other small goodies in it. (Colorful adhesive bandages are popular among preschoolers.) Someone has the other end of the string and tries to raise and lower the piñata to keep it from being hit.

To make a piñata, you can do something as simple as decorating a paper grocery bag with paints or crepe paper and then gluing and taping the top shut once the treats are inside. Run a string along the top edge before shutting the bag. You can also make a fancier piñata by covering a balloon with papier-mache. The fun thing is that these can be decorated to match any theme. For a star party, a Space Shuttle, planet or stars are good subjects for making a piñata.

What's in the Space Glove?
With very thick mittens on a player's hands, the player holds her hands behind her back and the player tries to guess what object is placed in her hand. Players look first at the objects that are being used. Point out that this is one of the difficulties when working in space -- the inability to feel the object with which you are working.

Here are more things to do with mittens. The players must draw a picture with a paintbrush while wearing boxing gloves or very thick mittens on their hands.

Another variation is to have the player put washers and a nut on a bolt while wearing boxing gloves or very thick mittens.

Let's Take Water to the Space Station
This is a relay race that is best played outside. Give each team a cloth or sponge, a basin with water in it and an empty bucket. Put the basin at the start line that represents Earth. The bucket at the finish line represents the Space Station. The team that manages to bring the greatest amount of water by soaking the cloth in the basin and then squeezing it out into the bucket wins the game.

Dock the Shuttle
This is a game that can be turned into a space-themed activity. Use a coffee can with a plastic lid on it as the container to catch the clothespins. Cut a hole into the plastic lid large enough for clothespins to fit through. Then decorate the can. A bottle with a wide mouth can also be decorated and used. Wooden clothespins (ones without springs) can also be decorated to look like Space Shuttles. Stand over the target with a clothespin. Drop the clothespin and try to hit the target. Whoever gets the most pins to go into the can wins.

Mars Landing
You can make a Mars Landing game (Bean Bag Toss,) easily by using a double layer of poster board glued together and a large box. Use the large box as a base and attach the poster board to one side of it. Before attaching the poster board, paint a picture of Mars on it, allowing for one or more holes to be cut into the poster and box. Each hole has a number beside it, to allow scorekeeping. Determine the distance to throw from. Keep score. Beanbags can be made of socks, stuffed with beans and tied or sewn. Be sure the bags are not bigger than the holes in the box and poster. The player with the highest score wins the game.

Spaceship, Spaceship, Who Has the Spaceship?
A person is chosen to be "it" and hides his eyes while a small spaceship or other object is given to a player to hide in his lap or behind his back. This is done by having one person with the object clasped between hands held together in a "prayer-like position," which goes to each player in turn, and pretends to slip the object into their hands.

The players hold their hands in a "prayer-like" position in front while the person pretends to slip the object into their hands. "It" then has three chances to guess which player has the spaceship. All players hide their hands in their laps or behind their backs and pretend have the spaceship.

Links to Space-related Games
http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/games/