FREE STORY STARTERS · AGES 5–11
Space story starters for kids
Here are 24 space story starters for children aged 5 to 11, sorted by key stage, with a generator that gives you a new one each time and a plan for turning it into a story.
Reviewed by Joshua Younger, Senior Educator, on .
All 24 space story starters
KS1 (Years 1–2) · ages 5–7
- Zara looked out of the rocket window. The Moon was getting bigger and bigger.
- The little robot beeped three times. That meant “Something is outside!”
- Tom’s rocket landed on a planet made of soft, purple sand.Has three “What happens next?” choices
- On Mars, Ava found a red rock that hummed when she held it.
- The stars were not twinkling tonight. They were spelling out a word.
- Leo packed his space bag: a torch, a sandwich and a map of the Moon.
- An alien tapped on the window of the space station. It was holding a cake.
- Grandad’s old telescope showed something new: a tiny planet with a front door.
Years 3–4 · ages 7–9
- The message arrived at seven minutes past three in the morning: four beeps, a pause, then four more. Captain Priya knew exactly what it meant.
- Nobody had ever landed on the far side of Planet Quill, so Kofi was surprised to find footprints.
- When the ship’s computer started telling jokes, Mei knew something had gone very wrong.Has three “What happens next?” choices
- The space station’s greenhouse was meant to grow tomatoes. This morning it had grown a door.
- Sam had one job on the mission: look after the space hamster. Now the cage was empty.
- The planet’s two suns were setting, painting the ice cliffs pink and gold, when the radio crackled into life.
- “Rocket ready?” asked Mission Control. Amir looked at the flashing orange light and took a deep breath.
- Isla had always wanted to see Earth from space. She just hadn’t expected to see it from inside a giant, friendly space whale.
Years 5–6 · ages 9–11
- Commander Okafor had trained for every emergency except the one now drifting past the window: a perfectly ordinary garden shed.
- For three hundred years the colony ship had travelled in silence, until the morning the children woke up first.
- The signal came from a planet that, according to every star chart on board, did not exist.Has three “What happens next?” choices
- On Moonbase Seven, nobody used the north airlock any more, which was why Ruby was so curious when its light blinked green.
- The asteroid was the size of a football pitch, coated in frost and, according to the scanner, humming a tune.
- Noah’s grandmother had been the first person to walk on Titan. Fifty years later, he found her missing glove.
- Gravity switched off at breakfast. By the time the cereal had floated to the ceiling, Freya had worked out that it wasn’t an accident.
- From the observation deck, Earth looked like a marble resting on black velvet. Then a second, smaller blue planet rose behind it: one that hadn’t been there yesterday.
What happens next? Three choose-your-path starters
Read the starter, read the three choices aloud and let your child pick one, then write that part of the story.
Years 1–2
Tom’s rocket landed on a planet made of soft, purple sand.
- He builds a sandcastle, and something inside it starts to wiggle.
- A friendly alien asks him to help find its lost ball.
- The rocket’s wheels get stuck, so he needs a clever plan.
Years 3–4
When the ship’s computer started telling jokes, Mei knew something had gone very wrong.
- The computer has picked up an alien radio show and is copying it.
- Someone has sneaked on board and is typing the jokes in secret.
- Each joke is a clue that leads to a hidden room on the ship.
Years 5–6
The signal came from a planet that, according to every star chart on board, did not exist.
- The crew vote to land, even though the ship’s computer advises against it.
- They send a message back and receive an answer in their own voices.
- The planet flickers onto the screen, then vanishes, leaving a set of coordinates behind.
A space story recipe
Most good space stories follow the same five steps. Children can use them as a plan before they write.
- 1
Lift-off
Give the hero a reason to leave Earth: a mission, a strange signal or a lost robot to find.
- 2
The surprise
Something unexpected happens on the way: a planet that is not on the map, a message, a part that stops working.
- 3
Land and explore
Describe the new place with the senses. What does the ground feel like through a space boot?
- 4
The big problem
The ship cannot take off, a friend needs help, or the alien needs something only the hero has.
- 5
Clever fix and home
Solve it with an idea, not luck. Finish by showing how the hero has changed when they see Earth again.
Want to plan it on paper? Use the free story mountain template, fill in the five boxes online and print it.
Space words
Twelve words to use in a space story, with meanings a child can understand.
- orbit
- the curved path something takes as it travels around a planet or star
- astronaut
- a person trained to travel and work in space
- galaxy
- a huge group of millions of stars; ours is called the Milky Way
- gravity
- the pull that keeps our feet on the ground and the Moon going around Earth
- crater
- a round hollow in the ground made when a rock from space crashes into it
- comet
- a ball of ice and dust with a long glowing tail
- atmosphere
- the layer of air around a planet
- satellite
- anything that orbits a planet, like the Moon or a machine sending TV signals
- constellation
- a group of stars that seems to make a picture in the sky
- launch
- to send a rocket up into the sky
- mission
- an important job that a team sets out to do
- airlock
- a small room with two doors that lets astronauts go outside without letting the air out
Curriculum links
Where a space story fits the National Curriculum in England:
“in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot”
Years 3 and 4, Writing – composition (statutory)
“describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system”
Year 5, Earth and space (statutory)