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Here is Rocky the raccoon! He lives in Kosmic Kelly’s backyard. Photo was taken at night. Can you think of other nocturnal animals?

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This week we did a fun fine motor craft to explore stars! Ever since my first-born was able to see the stars in the sky, he was hooked. He's loved them ever since. In fact one of his first words was "star" (which he pronounced "gar" for awhile) and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was the first song he had memorized. We are now finding that Little Bro has the same love for stars. He is also constantly singing the song and makes us all join in singing with him... "Weenole, weenole, widdle, dar," he sings. Such a fun time. So this star fine motor craft is just perfect for them. They got to practice fine motor skills in a fun way, create something pretty, AND make it light up. Things that glow are always a hit around here!
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links.
This post is a part of the Virtual Book Club for Kids. Come on over and join us in the facebook group where there are many activities to go along with weekly books and themes. This week the theme is night/sleep and the featured book is Time for Bed by Mem Fox. This story is so sweet as all the animals are getting ready for bed. My toddler LOVES animals so this book is just perfect for him. All throughout the story we see stars in the night sky illustrations, and at the end it mentions the stars shining bright before they say goodnight. So we were excited to make our shining stars to light our night!

Star Fine Motor Craft:

This craft is easily customize to go with the seasons or different holidays. It would make a cute Halloween decoration or pretty Christmas stars craft. Just add different stickers or paint it differently to make it your own!

Materials:

Foam cup (we used 8 ounce cups)

small glow stick (the bracelets work well) or a flameless tea light

black paint and paintbrush

toothpick

star stickers (optional)

How to:

First, we painted the foam cup with the black paint. An easy way to hold the cup still while painting, is to put it on our fist while painting. This kept the cup still without getting messy fingers. Otherwise, we put the cup down on a paper towel while painting to contain and paint.

Next we let dry completely. Applying another coat of paint is recommended (the end result looks best if the cup is completely covered). Big Bro didn't want to apply another coat and I didn't force it. He liked his how it was.

After the second coat of paint was dry we added star stickers. This is optional, but makes it look "starry" when it's light. Plus, peeling and sticking is good fine motor practice.

Now for the fine motor fun! Using a tooth pick, we poked holes in the foam cup. Each hole is a "star" when lit. This took my preschooler hardly any time. My toddler thought it was a lot of fun and was actually very focused on it.

Next, we took an activated glow stick, curled it up, and put it in the bottom of the cup. The color the glow stick is, is the color the stars will be. This photo shows blue, but we also used yellow.

Last, we turned it upside down and turned the lights off. Voila! Stars in a cup!

And that's it! Super simple, glowing stars that doubles as a fine motor craft! Big Bro brought it into his room to use as a night-light the night we made it. So sweet.

We also tried a flameless tealight instead of a glow stick. The way it flickers makes the stars look like they're twinkling!

There are so many great night and sleep themed books! Here are a few of our favorites:

Check out these great activities for more night and sleep learning fun!
Name Activity:
Discover My Name in the Night Sky - Powerful Mothering
Numbers Activity:
Star Counting Activity - Inspiration Laboratories
Cooking:
Farm-Animal Bedtime Snacks that Toddlers & Preschoolers Can Make - Chickadee Lit
Science:
Surprising Animal Sleep Facts - Mama Smiles
Why We Have Night - Preschool Powol Packets Colors: How to Make a Star Garland - The Educators' Spin On It Pre-Writing:
Puffy Paint Night Sky - Views From a Step Stool

Star Pre-Writing Activities for Preschoolers- Toddler Approved
Movement:
Bedtime Relaxation Stretches-Sugar Aunts

Night Time Glow In The Dark Bowling - Adventures of Adam

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Starlit Night in a Cup! A Fine Motor Craft for Kids - Creative Little Explorers

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This week we did a fun fine motor craft to explore stars! Ever since my first-born was able to see the stars in the sky, he was hooked. He's loved them ever since. In fact one of his first words was "star" (which he pronounced "gar" for awhile) and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was the first...

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Sensory Activity

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Red sensory bin  Kids are able to touch the items in the bin that match the red theme. (Math/Science) | Preschool fun, Sensory bins

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Apr 11, 2017 - Red sensory bin  Kids are able to touch the items in the bin that match the red theme. (Math/Science)

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Use a teddy bear instead of a ball!

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How To Play Pillowcase Catch - GoGo squeeZ - Health Snacking

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Leave the baseball gloves at home because all you need is a couple of pillowcases in this fun twist on an all-American pastime.

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Have some fun with your pillows.

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Wyatt's Light Cave | Reading nook kids, Activities for kids, Kids playing

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I know what you’re thinking.You want to come over and play, right?! As you know I’ve been Pinning Christmas craft ideas like crazy – and slowly, we’ve been working through them one by one. Well this one just HAD to be done. I asked the hubby to bring home a box from work, and BOY ... Read More about Wyatt’s Light Cave!

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Counting games are a wonderful way to teach number order, counting, one-to-one correspondence, and more! AND...this counting game ties in perfectly with Llama Llama Red Pajama, this month's Virtual Book Club book!

The llama in Llama Llama Red Pajama has some amazing facial expressions as he worries about what his mom could still be doing. Through it all, he has a blanket that moves around him and his room as he makes lots of "llama drama!"

This counting game plays off of the idea of a blanket, which preschoolers and toddlers love...even without the book!

In addition to counting, this game also requires your kiddos to keep track of things they've seen and counted and reinforces the concept of items existing when you can't see them. It also brings in the fun of games like hide-n-seek and hidden treasures!

To play, you will need to gather these

* 4-10 blankets: I simply cut a piece of cloth into "blankets" that were about 4" x 6." Using fabric provides a fun texture, but if you don't have any you can use paper.

* 10-50 small objects: We used pennies because our kids love touching money! You can use any small math manipulative or toy to count.

1- Set up your game by placing varying amounts of pennies under each blanket. For our youngest preschoolers, I put five pennies under one blanket, four under another, three under another, and 1 under the last. Four our 5-year olds, I would use six blankets and put about twice as many pennies under each one.

2- Introduce the game to your kiddos by telling them that there are hidden numbers of pennies under the blankets, and they need to find the pile of four pennies (or any other pile of your choice)! Let them lift up the blanket of their choice, and help them count if necessary:

3- Let them figure out which blanket is hiding the right number of pennies!

4- If they still have the attention for the game, repeat it! Or let your child set it up for you or other children! When they're done counting, let them play with the manipulatives and the blankets!

This month's Virtual Book Club's book is Llama Llama Red Pajama!

We love the Virtual Book Club!!

I may share at any of these parties!

Never miss another post again! Sign up for our weekly updates newsletter and get links to all our posts once a week in your inbox! Sign up here!!

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Llama Llama Red Pajama Hidden Numbers Blanket Game

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Counting games are a wonderful way to teach number order, counting, one-to-one correspondence, and more! AND...this counting game ties in perfectly with Llama Llama Red Pajama, this month's Virtual Book Club book! The llama in Llama Llama Red Pajama has some amazing facial expressions as he worries about what his mom could still be doing.

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Fun story read by Ms. Claudia from Priest St. School

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Fun story read by Ms. Claudia from Priest St. School

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A full day of pajama fun awaits your students! This pajama day packet includes:

1. A Note for the Parents

2. Great Pajama Day Read Aloud Book List

3. Story Order printable

4. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" fill in the blanks

5. "Day or Night?" sorting activity

6. Bedtime Graphing

7. My Favorite Breakfast

8. Pajama Day Snack Ideas

9. Design "A Perfect Pillow"

10. Bedtime Routines mini book

11. Cereal Box Puzzle activity

12. Create a Cereal poster

13. Rhyming printable

14. Counting Sheep (ten frames)

15. Dream Bubble draw and write

16. "Monkeys on the Bed" game idea with sign

Perfect for students in grades Pre-K and Kindergarten! Please download our preview for a closer look into this day of fun...Enjoy!

~Curriculum Castle
Connect with us! Follow our store here

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A full day of pajama fun awaits your students! This pajama day packet includes:1. A Note for the Parents2. Great Pajama Day Read Aloud Book List3. Story Order printable4. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" fill in the blanks5. "Day or Night?" sorting activity6. Bedtime Graphing 7. My Favorite Breakfast...

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Place a cookie cutter on a cookie sheet. Your child can scoop some baking soda into the center of the cookie cutter, add glitter (glitter is optional), use a spoon or eyedropper to add white vinegar to the baking soda. Sit back and watch the fizzy reaction.

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Science is well-loved around here - both at home and in my preschool classroom. This simple and fun science experiment was no different. The kitchen was filled with "oooooh!" and "aaaaah!" aplenty as the kiddos explored fizzy stars.

Are you following my Science for the Kiddos Pinterest board?
Related: Glowing Galaxy Water Bin Space Activity
sparkly and fun science experiment for kids

Affiliate links included below.

Our fizzy stars were inspired by Cathy James' newest ebook Super Sensory Invitations to Play. Full disclosure - I was given a free copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review. As always, the opinions here are my own!
Related: Starry Night Glitter Art for Kids
Directions
We set out to make a fizzy night sky with this fun science experiment! My son set a few star cookie cutters in a glass pan, along with a moon cookie cutter. We spooned baking soda into the cookie cutters, trying to keep most of it inside the stars and moon! Then we added glitter, and we were ready to go!

I placed a large bowl of vinegar out, along with some of our favorite squiggly eye droppers. The kiddos used the droppers to add vinegar to our baking soda stars. They had such fun watching the fizzing and bubbly reaction that ensued! The bubbles ended up making the glitter look like it was shimmering and sparkling, just like stars in the night sky.

After a bit, we decided to add some beautiful gold liquid watercolor to the vinegar. Engineer was interested to see if it would color the reaction and look more star-like. It didn't end up working out like that, but we did discover something interesting. With the addition of the watercolors, the reaction was even foamier than before! This led to more oooohing and aaahing over the fizzy stars!

Would your children/students enjoy this easy and fun science experiment? A 5-year old, an 8-year old, and a 37-year old sure had a blast with it! If you try it out, pop over to Fun-A-Day's Facebook page and share pictures!

Be sure to check out Super Sensory Invitations to Play! It has 52 hands-on invitations to play, so the kids can do one a week for a whole year! The invitations are hands-on and full of playful learning, and they can be tweaked and adapted based on kids' interests and materials you have on-hand. I'm excited to incorporate many of the activities with my pre-k kids this school year! My son's already gone through a variety of the activities, and he's got it planned out to try more! Click to purchase the book, or to read more about it!

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Science is well-loved around here - both at home and in my preschool classroom. This simple and fun science experiment was no different. The kitchen was filled with "oooooh!" and "aaaaah!" aplenty as the kiddos explored fizzy stars. Are you following my Science for the Kiddos Pinterest board?

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Storytime

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Sesame Street: Celebrity Lullabies With Ricky Gervais

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The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin

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Pajama Day Activities | Pajama day, Activities, Autumn activities for kids

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Pajama Day Activities, Pajama Day, Pajama Day Spirit Week, Pajama Party, Classroom Party, Pajama Day Outfits, Classroom Party Ideas, Bedtime Routine, Reading Buddies, Stuffed Animals, Twinkle Twinkle, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

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32 Llama Llama Red Pajama Coloring Page in 2020 (With images) | Red pajamas, Llama llama red pajama, Pajama day

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Feb 13, 2020 - Llama Llama Red Pajama Coloring Page - 32 Llama Llama Red Pajama Coloring Page , Pajama Day Coloring Page at Getcolorings

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Pajama Party! | Preschool songs, Party songs, Story time

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Dec 10, 2018 - This storytime is perfect for a preschool or kindergarten pajama party day. Included are five book suggestions, four songs with exercises, and a cute hot chocol

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Project Apples

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Llama Llama Red Pajama Hidden Numbers Blanket Game | Llama llama red pajama, Red pajamas, Preschool games

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Preschool packets, science, crafts, ideas, and more!