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How to make a space helmet from an old foam camping mat!

If you’re looking for a quick costume idea that is still a little out of this world, grab yourself a white jumpsuit, whip up one of these astronaut helmets, and you’ll be ready for the next moon landing!

The basic materials you will need are an EVA foam camping mat, some 2mm craft foam, and some contact cement or hot glue to put it all together. Oh, yeah, and the Space Helmet Template I made :)

The video above gives step by step instructions on how to make the astronaut helmet, and for a quick preview, check out the photos below.

The original plan for this astronaut helmet was birthed when my son informed me of an upcoming space day at school. Tomorrow. I quickly threw the helmet together for the day, then tweaked it, designed a downloadable PDF for the pattern, and had a lot of fun creating the how-to video with my son and his good friend. Since then it’s been used by hundreds of people around the world to help them create their space-themed costume.

Its a fairly basic build.

First, I cut out the pattern and traced it onto EVA foam.  I used an old camping mat, but others have used yoga mats or anti-fatigue mats. Basically as long as the foam is flexible enough to form the helmet, and strong enough to hold its shape, it should be all good. 

I then glued the V-shaped cutouts together.  In the past, I’ve often used contact cement, but I’ve since found that hot glue can work just as well without all the nasty fumes, so it’s my go-to adhesive for most projects these days.  

To give the space helmet a more rounded shape, I stretched the pieces over my knee.  You wouldn’t have to use your knee - any rounded object would work. That’s just what was handy for me. :)

Next it was time to glue the rest of the helmet together.  I find that when I am gluing the foam together, especially with a hot glue gun, the inside seams end up looking better than the outside seams, so before gluing the last seam along the front chin, I ended up turning the helmet inside out. 

Cutting the bottom rim for the helmet was a slightly tricky step, and it is not really that important if you just want a quick build, but it does give the bottom strip a little extra interest.  I cut a long strip of foam and marked two lines running the length of the foam. I cut along those lines only halfway through, then cut the centre strip out by flexing the foam and carefully cutting along it as flat as possible. 

I added the bottom rim, some visor disks on the sides, and a nameplate along the chin guard. Then I finished it off with a strip of foam along the centre seam and another overtop of the V cuts. I also added a few foam disks to the nameplate so it would look like it had been riveted on.

In order to look like an astronaut’s helmet, it needed to be quite a bit bigger than my son’s actual head, so I added some soft foam spacers so that it would fit comfortably.

I painted it white with silver accents using Plaid FX paints(Amazon paid link).  Plaid FX is an excellent costume paint because it’s flexible, so it helps to reduce cracking as the foam flexes. That said, I’ve also had good results using artist’s acrylic paints. 

To give it a nice shine I finished it off with some Pledge Floor Gloss(Amazon paid link).

The first space helmet I made has lasted for years, and I just recently decided to retire it and make a new one for my daughter.  Now she’s ready for a space adventure too!

The Space Helmet pattern comes with detailed written instructions, two different size helmet templates (one child size, and one for adults), and of course a 30 day, no questions asked money back guarantee! Check it out in my pattern shop!

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