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Day and Night - Composition for Image.mp4

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Peep and the Big Wide World_ Things that Go Peep in the Night.mp4

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What Do You See in the Sky - Sky Vocabulary For Toddlers And Kindergarten- ELF K.mp4

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Day and Night Explanation,Causes Science for Kids.mp4

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Zoom Zoom Zoom, We're Going to the Moon _ Nursery Rhymes by Hooplakidz.mp4

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All About Volcanoes for Children_ Introduction to Volcanoes for Kids - FreeSchoo.mp4

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Little J And Big Cuz Night Owl And Morning Maggie.mp4

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Little J And Big Cuz Right Under Your Nose.mp4

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Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

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Australian Aboriginal astronomy Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com

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Australian Aborigines were some of the first people in the world to develop ideas with astronomy. It is possible that their interpretation of astronomy is the oldest still alive today. Studying astronomical subjects - such as the Sun, Moon, stars and planets - and the way they appeared to move was used as a way to find and explain the relationship between people, nature and the sky.

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If you need to mix up your bedtime story routine a little bit, the Global Space Education Foundation has just the thing for you: Story Time in Space. It's exactly what it sounds like - astronauts on various missions in space read popular children's books while floating about, and the videos are edited and shared with kids way down on Earth.

The results are adorable as well as educational and inspiring. Check out astronaut Kathleen Rubins reading Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and try not to get choked up at how amazing this all is.

The concept was developed by Patricia Tribe, the former director of education at Space Center Houston, and Alvin Drew, the first NASA astronaut to read a story in space for the program, during the final mission of the space shuttle Discovery. The pair were looking to find a way to encourage reading among kids while also promoting STEM education, and landed on the idea of having on-duty astronauts reading science-based kids' books, gravity-free.

Since the initial reading, all of the story times have taken place on the International Space Station, as it hurtles through nothingness at 17,500 miles per hour around the planet. It's only a guess, but this may be slightly more interesting than your kids listening to you feign excitement while reading The Mitten again.

"What better role models to engage kids in science and to engage them in reading?" Tribe told the Huffington Post. "You're not only looking and listening to the books, you're looking around the International Space Station."

Not only are does Story Time in Space aim to make reading out of this world, it also stresses the importance of diversity. Tribe and her team select books for a wide range of reading levels (though all can be read in 15 minutes or less) and from a wide range of STEM topics, from physics to engineering to biology. The group also selects a diverse set of astronauts to read the books, so that kids can see that people who look just like them can reach for the next frontier. For example, Japanese engineer and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata read Max Goes to the International Space Station in Japanese for the program this summer.

The Story Time from Space program is also expanding. The group is working on adding a set of nine simple science experiments for kids that were conducted from the space station, involving concepts like energy transfer and surface tension. In addition, more books are on the way, including A Moon of My Own by Jennifer Rustgi, The Rhino Who Swallowed A Storm by LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo, and Moustronaut by Astronaut Mark Kelly.

While those projects are being completed, Earthlings can enjoy the rest of the collection, which includes Max Goes to Mars, by Jeffrey Bennet, as read by astronaut Mike Hopkins.

Let's just hope that these awesome videos don't ruin regular books read in gravity, from the ground, by plain old mom who probably isn't even an astronaut.

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Your Kids Can Now Watch Astronauts Reading Stories From Space

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If you need to mix up your bedtime story routine a little bit, the Global Space Education Foundation has just the thing for you: Story Time in Space. It's exactly what it sounds like - astronauts on various missions in space read popular children's books while floating about, and the videos are edited and shared with kids way down on Earth.

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DIY Galaxy Jars Instructions. Learn how to make Galaxy Jars, which is a perfect sensory bottle or calm-down jar craft that kids and adults alike will love. Scroll down to read how you can hold a galaxy in a jar, with this incredibly easy-to-follow tutorial.

A long time ago... just kidding.

Galaxy Jars

Be warned: Rumors of Star Wars galactic republic clone wars on Naboo may ensue...

So you can either call this Galaxy Jars...or Nebula Jars. Regardless of your preference, you can call it a super simple craft that will transform each mason jar you use into a galactic empire from unknown regions in the outer rim, full of wonder and delight. All kidding aside, it can easily be used as a calm down jar.

Now I am not quite sure why so many people call them Galaxy jars, other than our continued Star Wars enthusiasm, of course.

When completed, they really look more like a Nebula to me. Either way, they're so much fun. If you are on a science kick, you can also try this universe jar which glows! I don't like glow jars. Said, no one. Ever.

You can get the instructions to make this Nebula Jar below!

What is a Galaxy?
According to the dictionary
A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas and dust, and dark matter.

What is a Nebula?
According to Wikipedia

A nebula (Latin for "cloud"; pl. nebulae, nebulæ, or nebulas) is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other ionized gases. Originally, nebula was a name for any diffuse astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

Galaxy Jar Materials

Now to create your DIY galaxy jars, you are going to need just a few things.

First, a jar , water, fine glitter , paint , and a ton of cotton balls . Like, a ton.

Depending on the size of the galaxy/nebula in a jar crafts you are making, you may need as many as 3 bags of cotton balls. Since they are cheap, especially if purchased in bulk, it's a good idea to stock up.
Helpful hint: If you are planning this galaxy project in the future, you can easily grab all those things below from Amazon. I know when I do crafts that I always get mad at myself for not having the supplies on hand, so getting them all at once helps me.
TIP: On the cotton ball link below you have an option to buy 500 count or 1000 count- I always go through WAY more cotton balls than I think, so I recommend getting the 1000 count so you are prepared!
Official Galaxy Jar Supply List from Amazon:
How to make Galaxy Jars

1)Fill 1/3 of the jar with water to begin!

2) Add several drops of acrylic tempera paint to the water, put the lid on your mason jar, and shake to mix the paint and water.

3)Add a bit of fine glitter to the water and paint solution.

These are stars in your galaxy! A silver glitter would twinkle nicely, don't you think!

4)Stretch out and elongate your cotton balls, adding them to the water until the bottom is filled with cotton, pressing them down into the water with a stick or a knife.

Fill another 1/3 of the jar with water and add several drops of contrasting tempera paint. Repeat steps 2-4 so your colors start to mix and blend into each other.

Fill the final 1/3 of the jar with water and repeat steps 2-4.

Now you have created a GORGEOUS Galaxy jar~! I'm not sure who loves making them more, me or my kids!

MORE MASON JAR IDEAS:

Want more tips about how to layer and add the cotton?

You can learn more by heading to check out the ELEMENT JARS

Giving some different step-by-step layering techniques to build the jar you want! (can be used to build a nebula too!)

In addition, we did make a glow in the dark universe jar here too! Glow-in-the-dark paint is so much more chic than glow sticks in a jar!

Just click to find those instructions:

NEW! Create a Love Potion in a Jar (That really explodes!)

or maybe you want a different type of magical glitter jar: Fairy Jar

Or a Mardi Gras Calming Jar

Again, Do not forget your supplies! You'll hug yourself later, I promise.
Constellation Jar

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Galaxy Jars DIY: Hold the Galaxy Glowing in Your Hands!

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DIY Galaxy Jars Instructions. Learn how to make Galaxy Jars, which is a perfect sensory bottle or calm-down jar craft that kids and adults alike will love. Scroll down to read how you can hold a galaxy in a jar, with this incredibly easy-to-follow tutorial. A long time ago... just kidding.

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My little 4yo Master L is obsessed with rockets, gravity and anything 'space' - he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up - be still my beating heart! He wanted me to 'build' him a rocket this afternoon but without the time and resources, I decided this activity would suffice. Everything I needed was at home and I can tell you now, he LOVED it! He is one of those kiddies that moves on to the next activity pretty quickly, I am proud to say... NOT with this one! This is so easy to put together & like me, I bet you will have the things required in your house already! Oh and it's not 'rocket science', it's very easy too lol!
You will need: A balloon
Wool (you could also use fishing line or string)
A straw
Masking tape or similar

Nikko pen (optional)

2 chairs (you could also tape this from wall to wall)

Tie your wool to one chair (luckily my chairs have holes in the top to tie through, but you could use the masking tape if your's don't), then thread the straw onto the wool. Once the straw is in place, tightly secure the string to the other chair.

Then add a piece of tape to the straw, sticky side exposed. This will be used for securing the balloon.

This next step is optional, but I blew up the balloon and drew on a rocket with a nikko pen (much to Master L's pleasure). Using a permanent nikko pen, your rocket image will last over and over with each 'flight'.

Blow up a balloon - Master L was eager to do this part. Do not tie the ballon closed. Attach it to the straw using the tape.

Holding the balloon opening tightly with your fingers so the air doesn't leak out...

Pull the straw back to the end of your launch line and watch it FLY!

This was an activity that was pulled together last minute and was really enjoyable all round : ). Don't we just love when that happens!?

You may also like some of our other Fun Science Ideas:

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Balloon Rocket...an easy & FUN Science Experiment for Kids

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My little 4yo Master L is obsessed with rockets, gravity and anything 'space' - he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up - be still my beating heart! He wanted me to 'build' him a rocket this afternoon but without the time and resources, I decided this activity would suffice.

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We are excited to be starting our second A-Z series. This time we will be focusing on fine motor skill activities across the alphabet. Today we are kicking off the series with A is for Astronaut Fine Motor Skills.

What is it with young children and their obsession with space? The topic seems to capture their imagination of distant planets and aliens. I haven't met a child who doesn't dream about becoming an astronaut.

I wanted to create an astronaut themed activity which required my son to explore his fine motor skills in a different way.

Astronauts have to be able to carry out intricate work whilst wearing a space suit and being weightless. Although I couldn't replicate the feeling of weightless for my son I could get him to explore how difficult it is to carry out fine motor activities whilst wearing a space suit - or space gloves in our case.

I set about creating a space box. I took a large cardboard box and cut out two circles on one side. I posted a pair of yellow household rubber gloves through each hole, opened up the end of the glove and secured it to the box. This would enable my son to place his hands inside the box but not be able to move the objects I would later place inside.

Next I wrapped the box inside and out using aluminium foil. This was purely for decorative purposes. I searched the house for fine motor activities that I know my son can do easily in normal situations.

In the box I added a wooden stacker toy which my son has been able to do since he was 15 months old. I also added a container holding our 3D Solar System planets, our Handy Scoopers from our Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set and another container so my son could use the Handy Scooper to transfer the planets to.

To complete our space box I added two layers of cling film to the top. This was to stop my son from trying to cheat and move the objects inside.

After getting over the excitement of the space box and the concept of wearing space gloves, my son attempted to complete the wooden stacker. Wearing the gloves he struggled to even pick up a wooden block let alone completing the tower. He got frustrated at not being able to do something that he usually finds so easy.

My son also found it difficult to being able to see the items that were directly in front of him. He found it difficult to look over the box and down onto the items. After a few moments of exploring the box one of the rubber gloves had come away from the box so he was able to peer inside the hole for a slightly better view.

Despite several attempts, my son couldn't even pick up the Handy Scooper, let alone manipulate it to pick up a 3D planet. I took the equipment out of the space box and let my son explore the equipment. He managed to pick up the planets whilst wearing the space gloves but still couldn't pick up the Handy Scooper. We now have a newfound appreciation of Astronauts fine motor skills!

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Astronaut Pretend Play with Fine Motor Practice

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We are excited to be starting our second A-Z series. This time we will be focusing on fine motor skill activities across the alphabet. Today we are kicking off the series with A is for Astronaut Fine Motor Skills. What is it with young children and their obsession with space?

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. By clicking on these links I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Creating simple, yet fun learning activities for my preschooler is a passion of mine. I have found hands-on activities and games to be a great way to help preschoolers learn academic skills. Counting Falling Stars Preschool Math Activity is the latest! It is so quick to make and set up! Your preschooler can start counting and recognizing numbers right away!

Materials Needed for Counting Falling Stars
Dark blue cardstock paper Glow Stars Silver marker Tape
To Prep: Create the night sky activity board by taping two dark blue cardstock sheets together along the back. Then write the directions and numbers along the edge of the paper with silver marker. I included numbers 1 through 20 on the left and right sides. The directions and some simple decorative doodles are on the top and bottom.

To Use: Have your child take a handful of glow stars, raise his or her hands about twelve inches above the paper and drop them all onto the night sky activity board. The stars that land on the paper are then counted. The stars that land off the paper are removed and placed back in the container. After counting all the stars, have the child point to the number.

Repeat as many times as your child is interested. Most preschoolers will be interested in doing this activity about three times, making this a short and sweet math lesson!

Counting Falling Stars is a simple math activity that is a fun way for preschoolers to work on counting skills and number recognition. This hands-on math activity could also be modified to help children work on addition or subtraction.

Counting Falling Stars Preschool Math Activity is perfect for kids who are interested in astronomy or outer space! Make this simple, hands-on math activity to tie into your themed unit today!

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Counting Falling Stars Preschool Math Activity

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Creating simple, yet fun learning activities for my preschooler is a passion of mine. I have found hands-on activities and games to be a great way to help preschoolers learn academic skills. Counting Falling Stars Preschool Math Activity is the latest! It is so quick to make and set up!

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I have a space-obsessed kid in my house, so we love to do space crafts around here, and my son was very excited to do this moon craft! We made it extra fun and experimented with a different way to paint by making it foil-printed. This craft is great for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, or even older kids. It would also be a great art extension during a space theme in the classroom.

We love to experiment with different ways to paint, and stamping and printing with foil is a fun one we have tried recently. Make a stamp out of foil, and then use paint to print with it. The texture this creates works really well to make the moon's crater-filled landscape.

Materials Needed for the Foil-Printed Moon Craft:

Getting the Moon Craft ready:

To get this craft ready, I first created the foil "stamps".

Do to this, press the foil into the measuring cup. Push the foil into the bottom of the cup, until it forms a round bottom. I also molded the top a bit to make a little handle.

Use a plate or lid to trace a circle onto a white piece of paper.

I put gray and white paint onto a plate for the kids to dip their stamps into. This craft works well with just gray paint, but we decided to add white for more dimension.

Doing the Foil-Printed Moon:

First, dip the bottom of the foil stamp into the gray paint.

If using white paint, dip some of the stamp into the white paint as well.

Stamp the paint onto the circle shape to make the moon.

At this point, my son decided that we needed to add some black paint for more craters. You can stop there, or add in some black paint and continue stamping.

When you're finished stamping, put the moon aside to dry.

Meanwhile, make the background by making gray or white dots onto a a black piece of paper.

After all of the paint dries, cut the moon out and glue it to the black paper.

Now you have your moon in space!

I think it looks really neat with all of the texture and looks a lot like the craters on the real moon.

More Science Activities and Ideas
Walking Water Science for Kids Science Notebook Plants Unit
Want science planned for you ALL YEAR LONG?!

Do you want science planned for the ENTIRE CALENDAR YEAR!? This Endless Science Mega Bundle will save you so much time and keep your students engaged and excited about learning. This amazing resource contains 53 science topics including life science, physical science, earth science, and animal studies.

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I have a space-obsessed kid in my house, so we love to do space crafts around here, and my son was very excited to do this moon craft! We made it extra fun and experimented with a different way to paint by making it foil-printed.

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Oh my, we have a lovely lovely STAR CRAFT for you today. If you love stars and what learn about the main 5 Constellations in the northern hemisphere, read on!!!! With the help of my lovely friend Hattifant, we have created a Constellations Luminary Printable - focussing on the main 5 Constallatiosn Kids Should Know. You can print it out at home, assemble it, prick some holes, add an electirc tealight and off you go. Whether you want it as small bedside go to sleep luminary (please do switch them off though) or star gazing through your window, or going for a "midnight" walk.. these little Paper Constellation Maps are the perfect size for small (and big) hands. Use them at home, in the classroom or for homeschooling... but above all. ENJOY the wonders of the night sky!!

Here We Are, by Oliver Jeffers

RED TED ART TV

(affiliate links)

Today's post was inspired by Oliver Jeffers brand new book Here We Are... a book dedicated to his son and created to help Jeffers explain the world to his new born son! Not an easy task.. but we all need to start somewhere. And we all do it in our own personal way. As a children's author and illustrator, explaining to world to his son, of course has to be via beautifully illustrated book. Here We Are is a work of genius (am I being sycophantic enough??), but seriously, explaing the world in simple terms and illustrations is no easy task. How do you break down our beautiful yet complicated world - in terms of both the world itself and the animals and people that live in it? How do you make it simple enough for our children to understand and enjoy? Well... you will need to get your own copy of Jeffers' book and find out!

As you know, we are great Oliver Jeffers fans.. and have previously made Oliver Jeffers' crafts - including the Lost & Found Boy and Penguin (and umbrella) and the Long Way Home Plane and Spaceship. Today we decided to create a Constellation Luminary Craft perfect for Star Gazing and learning all about the main 5 Constellations Kids Should Know!

Star Gazing: Constellation Luminary Paper craft

Do you know the stars we live under?! I am sure you already know that those little lights you see in the sky at night time are not just lanterns but luminous balls of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. And the stars we see do not just move around but in fact create a pattern - a constellation - that we can go look for and recognize time and time again.

This we often call "star gazing"!

So, we created a little "helper" to take with us to find 5 constellations that are pretty famous and with a little practice easy to find - our Constellation Luminary!

Get your printable today, make your own and then go with mom & dad on a little night walk to find the following constellations:

Ursa Minor & Major (also called small and big Dipper)

Orion

Cassiopeia

Sagittarius (the so called Tea Pot)

Scorpio

Constellations Craft - Supplies needed:

(includes affiliate links for convenience)

printable - choose from

scissors to cut out the cube

scoring tool to score the lines to help with folding

tape/glue if you want to make your cube more stable

needle or similar to prick little holes for stars into box

LED candle light to put inside the box (you can get some online here US/ UK)

How to assemble your DIY Constellations Luminary
NOTE: you may have to cut out a little bit of the flaps of the "top" of your box to allow the stars to shine through fully. The lid flaps are hard to "prick" through when not glued in place.
This craft is pretty straight forward! We will make a box with tiny holes! ^_^

1. Print out the template and cut out the box.

2. Fold the box along the lines. It might be easier to score the lines first!

3. Stack the box together and add glue/tape if necessary.

4. With a thick needle prick holes into where stars are illustrated. You can make smaller and bigger holes to show what stars shine more brightly.

And then all that is left to do is to add the LED candle light (DO NOT USE A REAL CANDLE!), close the box and turn of the light!

Happy crafting and do let us know how many constellations you were able to find!

More Constellations Resources:

Use a shoebox to make an easy Shadow Box Constellation Map by Rainy Day Mum

How to make constellation cards by Kanelstrand

And finally, how cool is this DIY Constellation Project by Playground Parkbench!?

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5 Constellations Kids Should Know - Red Ted Art's Blog

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Oh my, we have a lovely lovely STAR CRAFT for you today. If you love stars and what learn about the main 5 Constellations in the northern hemisphere, read on!!!! With the help of my lovely friend Hattifant, we have created a Constellations Luminary Printable - focussing on the main 5 Constallatiosn Kids Should Know .

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Totschooling - Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten Educational Printables

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Learn about the planets in our solar system with this fun printable activity, perfect for preschoolers and young children!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

This FREE Solar System activity is perfect for teaching preschoolers about the planets and how the solar system works. I recommend that you laminate both pages, then cut out the planets and use velcro dots to stick the planet pieces.

While doing this activity with your kids, here are some good talking points to mention that will help them remember facts about each planet:

there are 8 planets in the solar system

all the planets revolve around the sun

the first planet closest to the sun is Mercury, and it's the smallest planet

Venus is the 2nd planet and is almost the same size as the Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun

Mars is nicknamed the "red planet"

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system

Saturn has many colorful rings around it

Uranus also has rings, but not as many as Saturn

Neptune is the last planet in the solar system

More Resources for a Space theme:

If you enjoyed this activity you might also like the following posts:

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Learn about the planets in our solar system with this fun printable activity, perfect for preschoolers and young children! This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. This FREE Solar System activity is perfect for teaching preschoolers about the planets and how the solar system works.

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I am excited to partner with Oak Meadow to bring you these fabulous moon activities for kids!

We are well into our Oak Meadow Grade One curriculum now. During our first 4 weeks we have been observing and learning about moon phases.

One of the most exciting parts of homeschooling with Oak Meadow is the time allotted for letting little ones explore topics that are of interest. During our first month we have been exploring many different topics, but the one that my boys have been most intrigued with is the moon.

So we have spent a lot of time reading moon books, observing the moon, sketching the moon, and making the moon!

We have made the moon out of salt dough and used marbles to make craters. I have swung the boys around in circles to demonstrate how we only see one side of the moon. We have sewn crescent, half, Gibbous, and full moons. We have spent time diving into this topic, because it is interesting to my little ones. If those little ones are interested and curious, then I feel it is my job to keep that interest and curiosity going strong.

If you have little ones that are also interested in learning about the moon you are in the right spot! Here are some fabulous ways to explore and learn all about the moon.

Moon Phases on the Felt Board from Still Playing School - Let the kids get hands-on as they explore how the moon looks different in the sky depending on its phase.

Astronomy for Kids: Moon Journal from Buggy and Buddy - Use this free printable to record moon observations each night.

Moon Craft from Fantastic Fun and Learning - Make a three-dimensional moon craft with just a few materials. This is a great way to explore textures, too.

Gross Motor Moon Phases from Learn Play Imagine - Get the kids moving as they practice learning about the phases of the moon.

Why Are There Craters on the Moon? from I Can Teach My Child - A simple science experiment that explores how the moon came to have craters.

Paper Plate Moon Craft from NurtureStore - Grab a paper plate and some tissue paper for a beautiful stained glass effect.

Moon Rocks Fine Motor Activity from Pre-K Pages - Make "moon rocks" together, and then let little astronauts smash them up.

The Moon, Willoughby, and the Moon Buggy from JDaniel4's Mom - Explore weight displacement by making your own "moon buggy" and experimenting with tracks on the moon's surface.

Making Phases of the Moon Using Oreos from Gift of Curiosity - Use Oreo cookies to create representations of the different phases of the moon. Label them and take a picture before having a treat.

DIY Moon Phase Puzzle from What Do We Do All Day? - Make your own puzzle to explore the different phases of the moon. Let the kids explore and build the puzzle over and over as they learn more.

Making Moon Bread from The Educators' Spin On It - Learn about the moon with the kids, while reading and baking together.

Moon Math Game from Stir the Wonder - Turn the moon's craters into numbers and play a simple dice game. Switch it up and make the craters into the alphabet for another take on the game.

How Far Could You Jump on the Moon from Finding the Teachable Moments - Such a great way to explore how far you can jump on the moon versus the Earth. So simple, but so meaningful.

Moon Crater Gross Motor Activity from Pre-K Pages - The kids get to be asteroids in space as they explore how craters occur on the moon.

Moon Craft Mobile from Fantastic Fun and Learning - Bring the moon inside with this homemade mobile. Kids can create the craters on the moon before adding stars and hanging from their ceiling.

Moon Phases Experiment from We Made That - Use a few simple tools to set up this experiment. Kids can explore how the moon's phase changes in comparison to the sun.

Make a Moon Phase Viewer from What Do We Do All Day? - Make a moon phase viewer using an empty salt container. Kids can explore how the different phases of the moon look, and then compare to what they're seeing in the night sky.

Lunar Landscape Sensory Play from The Imagination Tree - Children can turn a sensory bin into the moon's surface. They can play, pretend, and explore some of the concepts they're learning about the moon this way.

Moon Rover Tracks from Preschool Powol Packets - A simple, fun experiment that illustrates the difference between tracks on the moon and tracks on the Earth.

Puffy Paint Moon Craft from No Time for Flash Cards - A few craft materials are all that's needed to make this sensory art experience with the kids.

There you have it! Oodles of ideas to help keep those little heads in the clouds ... or up in space ...

Lots of dreaming and imaginative play is bound to happen with these activities. Who knows, maybe our little ones will even be astronauts together one day.

Thank you Oak Meadow for your fabulous Grade One curriculum - we are loving it!

And thank YOU friends for being here. I hope you are having a fabulous week.

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Moon Activities for Kids - How Wee Learn

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I am excited to partner with Oak Meadow to bring you these fabulous moon activities for kids! We are well into our Oak Meadow Grade One curriculum now. During our first 4 weeks we have been observing and learning about moon phases.

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We've loved our moon unit. I decided to expand it with some moon activities using Spielgaben educational toys. There some great activities that can be prepared using the printed learning materials that come with the Spielgaben set. There are also free printables available online that can be used to create additional hands-on activities with Spielgaben materials.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Spielgaben. All opinions are honest and my own. This post also contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).
In case you're not familiar with Spielgaben toys, they are exceptionally high-quality educational toys designed for ages 3-12. You can see from the photo that the cabinet is very high quality and fits in well in a room with traditional Montessori materials. I love the new, easily removable drawers in version 4.

The Spielgaben complete set comes with over 700 pages of full-color printed learning materials. These printed materials help you as a parent or teacher easily use Spielgaben toys educationally with your child and/or students.
Note: The yarn balls in set 1 are fine for babies and toddlers. The other sets should only be used with ages 3 and older unless your toddler no longer mouths objects or you are constantly supervising your toddler during an activity using the materials.
Spielgaben Materials Used in This Post

For this post, I used Spielgaben wooden parquetry tablets. The parquetry tablets are the Froebel set or gift #7. These are fabulous for reinforcing more advanced shape names such as isosceles triangle. Just sorting the shapes into the proper section of the divided box is a helpful activity for young preschoolers.

I also used the Spielgaben points (wooden dots) to create Montessori-inspired activities. If you're using Spielgaben toys in the traditional sequence used in Froebel education, these points are the Froebel set or gift #9 and have activities that can be used for advanced mathematical/geometric concepts. The points can also be used to create objects and designs.

Montessori-Inspired Moon Activities with Spielgaben using Free Printables
Building a Rocket with Spielgaben Wooden Parquetry Blocks
This activity uses the pattern block rocket from Jessica's Corner of Cyberspace. The printable is available in color or black and white. With the Spielgaben materials, it's best to use the black and white printable because the Spielgaben parquetry blocks are a bit different in shape from some of the other pattern blocks (although the same size). Some shapes can be matched exactly, but you have to put together 3 equilateral triangles to make the trapezoid rather than matching trapezoids. This makes it a bit more difficult but also challenging and a great extension for the Montessori constructive triangles.

I displayed the tray on our moon shelf with two Montessori-friendly moon books: Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing and The Moon (True Books: Space).

My almost-4-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, thought it was very interesting that 3 triangles were used to make a trapezoid.
M is for Moon Dot Transfer
For this, I used my free moon do-a-dot printable (just published)! Print it out at 52%, and it'll be the perfect size for the Spielgaben wooden dots.

I used a Multicraft tray and small bamboo condiment cup for the Spielgaben dots. I used a sugar tong for the transfer tool. A variety of tools could be used.
Rocket Dot Transfer
For this activity, I used a printable from the free space pack, part 3 by 3 Dinosaurs. I printed it at 52% so the wooden dots would fit perfectly. There are similar printables for a male or female astronaut that could work well with the dots for a moon unit.

I used a Multicraft tray and small bamboo condiment cupfor the Spielgaben dots. I used tweezers for a fine-motor activity, although a strawberry huller, quick sticks, toast tongs, or sugar tongs would work well also.

Rocket Activities in the Spielgaben Printed Materials

Don't forget to check your Spielgaben printed learning materials for rocket activities if you're doing a moon unit. Each playguide/workbook/inspiration card set has at least one rocket-building activity. A variety of the Spielgaben materials are used. The only set that doesn't include a rocket activity is (obviously) the nature set.

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My Previous Spielgaben Posts

Most of these include links to free printables! (Click on an image to go to the related blog post.)

Version 4 of Spielgaben Educational Toys

I highly recommend Spielgaben as an amazing educational material for home or school. Even though the toys aren't inexpensive, they're definitely worth the price because of the high quality of materials and number of years your children or students can use them.
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Montessori-Inspired Moon Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}

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We've loved our moon unit. I decided to expand it with some moon activities using Spielgaben educational toys. There some great activities that can be prepared using the printed learning materials that come with the Spielgaben set. There are also free printables available online that can be used to create additional hands-on activities with Spielgaben materials.

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5-4-3-2-1, Blast off! Rockets are super cool, and not just for boys either! Did you know that almost 10% of the total number of astronauts have been women? Wow, that is awesome! If you were to ask my husband, Sweet Pea would certainly be destined for a job in outer space, and why not? She is already a force of nature! To inspire her to reach for the stars, I searched for great Rocket Ship Crafts for Kids. These are some of the best ideas I found! I hope you have a blast (no pun intended) as you try some of them out!

Rocket Ship Crafts for Kids!

TP Rocketships from Naturally Educational:
http://www.naturallyeducational.com/2010/09/space-rocket-ship-craft-astronaut-books/

Rocket Shape Collage from Toddler Approved:
http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2011/05/rocket-shape-collage.html

Recycled Rocket Craft from No Time For Flashcards:
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/08/recycled-rocket-craft.html

Bottle to Rocket from Sainsbury's:
http://inspiration.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/transform-a-bottle-into-a-rocket-in-6-easy-steps/?pp=0

Rocket from My Kid Craft:
http://mykidcraft.com/rocket/863/

Cardboard rockets from Hello Bee:
http://www.hellobee.com/2013/08/21/diy-cardboard-rockets/

Cardboard Space Shuttle Craft from Pink Stripey Socks:
http://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2014/03/cardboard-space-shuttle-craft-template.html

Footprint Rocket from Fun Handprint Art Blog:
http://funhandprintartblog.com/2011/08/footprint-rocket-a-fun-out-of-this-world-craft.html

Bendy Straw and Paper Rockets from Dollar Store Crafts:
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/07/man-crafts-bendy-straw-and-paper-rockets/

Foam Rockets from My Textured World:
http://mytexturedworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/research-point-persistence-of-craft-in.html

Soda Bottle Rocket from In the Playroom:
http://intheplayroom.co.uk/2015/01/24/soda-bottle-rocket-kids-craft/#_a5y_p=3243432

DIY Play Space Station from Prek Projects:
http://prekprojects.blogspot.com/2011/09/space-station-imaginary-play.html

Chip Can Rocket Ship from Cathie Filian:
http://cathiefilian.blogspot.com/2011/03/kids-craft-chip-can-rocket-ship.html

Rubber Band Rocket Launcher from Preschool Alphabet:
http://preschoolalphabet.blogspot.ca/2012/02/rubber-band-rocket-launcher.html

Water Rockets from Fink Built:
http://www.finkbuilt.com/blog/water-rocket-party/

Junk Model Space Rockets from Nurturestore:
http://nurturestore.co.uk/junk-model-space-rocket-theme-preschool

Felt Build a Rocket Game from Pink and Green Mama:
http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2011/08/homemade-outer-space-felt-board-and.html#.VNGsRE39k5s

Building Rockets with Tin Cans and Magna Tiles from And Next Comes:
http://www.andnextcomesl.com/2014/04/building-rockets-with-tin-cans-magna.html

Take Me to the Moon from Molly Moo Crafts:
http://mollymoocrafts.com/after-school-crafts-rocketship/

Rocket Backpack from The Little Activity Chest:
http://www.thelittleactivitychest.com/space-theme-children-activities/

Rocket Bookmark by Activity Village:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/rocket-bookmark

Simple Rocket from A Spoonful of Ideas:
http://aspoonfullofideas.com/blog/super-simple-outer-space-crafts-rockets/

These are some pretty great ideas, right? How about you? Do you have a great Rocket Ship or Outer Space-themed craft you love? Tell me about it or share what your kids love about space in the comments below!

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5-4-3-2-1, Blast off! Rockets are super cool, and not just for boys either! Did you know that almost 10% of the total number of astronauts have been women? Wow, that is awesome! If you were to ask my husband, Sweet Pea would certainly be destined for a job in outer space, and why not?

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Moon Craters

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The entire reason we started our space unit was because XGirl became very interested in astronauts and travel to the moon after a field trip we took to the USS Hornet museum. There was an exhibit there about the USS Hornet's role in retrieving astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins when they returned from the moon as part of the Apollo 11 space mission back in 1969. This exhibit really captured XGirl's imagination and led to us reading lots of books about astronauts, the moon, and especially the Apollo 11 mission.
Note: For more moon-related activities, see my Space Unit Study page.
How did the moon get its craters?

From our reading, we learned that the moon is filled with craters. Most of these craters were formed when huge rocks slammed into the moon many millions of years ago. The activity I am sharing today was designed as a hands-on way to help reinforce my kids' knowledge that (1) the moon's surface is filled with craters, and (2) the craters were formed by rocks crashing into the moon.

For this activity, we made our own moons out of magic mud modeling clay.

We made our moons by covering a styrofoam ball with magic mud, but when the project dried the magic mud shrunk and cracked. So I would recommend skipping the styrofoam ball and just forming a ball out of 100% magic mud instead.

Once we had created our moons, I handed the kids some rocks and encouraged them to crash the rocks into their moons. As they did, they soon saw craters forming.

They used the rocks to make craters over the entire surface of their moons.

And finally, we couldn't resist adding an American flag to our moons, just like the Apollo 11 astronauts planted a flag on the moon during their mission.

Now that we've done this activity, I encourage anyone to ask my kids, "How did the moon get its craters?" After this hands-on experience, I guarantee my kids know the answer. 🙂

More resources to learn about the moon

More posts about the moon from Gift of Curiosity:
You'll find more resources for learning about the moon on my Space Unit Study page and my Space and the Solar System Pinterest board. Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity's board Unit Ideas: Space & the Solar System on Pinterest.
Products mentioned in this post:

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The entire reason we started our space unit was because XGirl became very interested in astronauts and travel to the moon after a field trip we took to the USS Hornet museum.

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Constellation Projection Cards Summer Sky and Blank Template.pdf

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Outer Space Preschool Activities and Crafts

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Outer space preschool activities, crafts, printable lesson plans, coloring pages suitable for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten.

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Our Preschool Space Theme contains the most complete Early Chilhood Education Space Theme Ideas on the internet.

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SPACE FUN

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Two blog posts in a row, look at me go!! We are loving our space unit so far. I'm only 2 days in and already so glad that this was one of the units that we scheduled to last for 2 weeks. Here's some things we have been working on.

Short u suns. This was a classic example of a day when I prep something and then lose part of it and don't find it until later. Just as we were starting to make our suns I couldn't find the orange rays so I improvised. Our neighboring class's suns turned out much cuter with their big orange rays :)

We have started our space books. So far we have water colored our earths and sponge painted paper plates to make suns.

Here's my example for the moon page (the idea came from my fabulous teaching partner). I have them glue beans down and then cover the beans with a circle of aluminum foil to make the bumpy surface of the moon. You can grab the sentence pages here.

Tomorrow we are going to make these rockets. (This pic is from last year). I let them decorate their rockets however they want and then use the ten frames to "countdown" from 10 to 1. Add some tissue paper fire, attatch a string to the top and you have some awesome rocket kites. Fun stuff :)

I'll be back later in the week with more space fun and some 100th day action.

In other news, I have some new resources ready for February. Click the pictures to head over to my store :)

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Two blog posts in a row, look at me go!! We are loving our space unit so far. I'm only 2 days in and already so glad that this was one of the units that we scheduled to last for 2 weeks. Here's some things we have been working on.

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Resources for Primary and Secondary Students - ABC Education

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4000+ educational games, videos and teaching resources for schools and students. Free Primary and Secondary resources covering history, science, English, maths and more

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Your children are going to have a great time decorating, coloring, and leaping frogs. They will also have a wonderful time constructing a leap frog straw rocket! I bet your kids will have their frogs leaping off straws over and over again. They may even experiment with who can get their frog to travel the farthest.

Leap Frog Straw Rocket

Getting the Frog Ready for the Straw Rocket

The first thing you will need to do is print out the Leap Frog Straw Rocket page. There are a number of frogs on the page. Your children could each been given one frog to decorate. Another alternative you could do is that they can decorate a whole sheet of frogs and pick the one they like best.

The frogs will need to be cut out with a bubble around them. It will make the frog picture less fragile and easier to work with.

Assembling the Frog Rocket

Once your children have the frog they want to use on the rocket colored, it is time to put the rocket together. There are several ways to construct a straw rocket. (We based our straw rockets on ones made by Buggy and Buddy.) Let me walk you through what we did.

First, we cut a piece off a drinking straw that was about 2 1/2 inches long.

Then we taped one of the straw shut.

Next, we glued the frog to the straw section. You can totally have your kids tape the frog to the straw if you like.

Finally, we placed the straw section on the end of a full-size straw. The full-sized straw will be the launcher.

Leaping Frogs

Your children will simply blow into the end of the straw that doesn't have the frog on it. They can blow the frog up into the air or out and away from them.

If you want them to measure how far the frogs can leap when it is blown from the straw rocket, you may want to lay a yardstick or measuring tape down on the ground. Then they can lay on their bellies and blow the frog off the rocket.

Tying the Activity into a Book

You may want to read a leaping frog-themed book to your children before or after creating the leap frog straw rocket. Here are some wonderful frog-themed books.
Links below are affiliate links.
Leap, Frog, Leap!- This is a rhyming board book with fun illustrations.
Flying Frogs and Walking Fish: Leaping Lemurs, Tumbling Toads, Jet-Propelled Jellyfish, and More Surprising Ways That Animals Move - Kids will love exploring how a variety of animals move.
Jump, Frog, Jump! Your kids are going to love the rhythm and repeated words in this book.
Frog and Fly This fun comic strip style book have six fun stories in it.

So many of you have loved this activity, I have made a Butterfly Straw Rocket printable you could also use with this activity.

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Your children are going to have a great time decorating, coloring, and leaping frogs. They will also have a wonderful time constructing a leap frog straw rocket! I bet your kids will have their frogs leaping off straws over and over again. They may even experiment with who can get their frog to travel the farthest.

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Make a soda bottle rocket with simple household materials! This fun science demonstration is easy to do and will definitely impress your kids. Our rocket flew higher than our two story house!

This is a fun outside project for kids of all ages. Use a simple baking soda and vinegar reaction to launch your rocket. Who knew that baking soda and vinegar had that much power?
Here is what you need to make one:

A 2 liter soda bottle

3 pencils (unsharpened is best)

Duct tape

A cork that fits the soda bottle

Paper towels

Baking soda

Vinegar - we went through an entire large bottle, so get a lot!

First, prepare your rocket. Basically, all we did was to build a stand for the rocket. We were concerned that adding decorations would make the rocket heavier, which would not allow it to go as high.

We went to a birthday party a couple weeks ago and made a bottle rocket with a water bottle. They used pencils as "feet" for the rocket to stand on, and I thought it was a brilliant idea!

Once your rocket is ready, it's time to launch!

I failed to get a good photo of our baking soda packets, but what you need is a small square of paper towel (we used half of a select-a-size paper towel). Dump in some baking soda (we didn't measure) and fold the paper towel around it. It needs to be narrow enough to fit through the mouth of your bottle. You can kind of see our baking soda packet in the photo below.

Pour in some vinegar. We used about two inches worth, but again we didn't measure.

(Turn this into a science experiment by using different quantities of baking soda and vinegar and recording how high your rocket goes!)

After pouring in the vinegar, quickly push in the baking soda packet and then push in the cork. Turn the bottle over and wait for it to launch! It can take up to 30 seconds.

Be careful of pushing in the cork too tightly - our first rocket did not launch because of that, and when we pulled the cork out it had a LOT of pressure behind it. Once Aidan got the hang of how tightly to push it in, our launches were all successful after that.

Be sure to stand back... It's starting to foam!

LIFTOFF! What a great demonstration of Newton's 3rd law of motion!
Here's a video of our rocket in action: It's a great time of year to get outside! Here are more fun backyard projects:

Here are several fun Backyard Projects from One Crazy House. Love these ideas for creating a fun play space!

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This EPIC Bottle Rocket Flew Higher Than our Two Story House!

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Make a soda bottle rocket with simple household materials! This fun science demonstration is easy to do and will definitely impress your kids. Our rocket flew higher than our two story house! This is a fun outside project for kids of all ages. Use a simple baking soda and vinegar reaction to launch your rocket.

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Print out our free rocket printable and have fun making some straw rockets! The kids loved designing their own rockets and then launching them using straws- such a great way for kids to explore science!
This post contains affiliate links.
Here's an easy way to make straw rockets using just a few materials. This project makes a great addition to a unit on physics, space, the night sky, or things that fly and is also just fun to do on a rainy day!

A reader, Lisa, suggested a great children's book to go with this activity: The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield. Be sure to check it out!

The kids and I designed our own rockets and launched them using straws! This activity was definitely a hit with both Lucy (age 7) and Theo (age 3 1/2).

The kids loved seeing how far they could get their straw rockets to go and had fun trying them out at all different angles.

This activity makes a great science exploration and is perfect for the classroom. Kids can compare how different angles of the straw affect the distance the rocket travels or how adding fins or folding the rocket in different ways can affect its flight.

See the straw rockets in action!

Materials for Making Straw Rockets

Directions for Making Straw Rockets

1. Print out the free rocket template. Color the rockets and cut them out.

2. Cut the bottom off a plastic pipette and attach it to the back of a rocket using tape or glue dots. (We love having a stash of plastic pipettes at home. They're so fun to use with painting and often come in handy for various science activities- like with our color arrays. And they're super inexpensive!)

If you don't have any plastic pipettes handy, you can use a straw instead. (Just make sure this straw is wider than the other straw you'll be using for launching.) Cut the straw to fit the length of the rocket and tape one end shut so it's completely sealed. Attach it to your rocket with glue dots or tape.

3. Slip a straw into your pipette, and you're ready to launch!

4. Give your straw a big puff of air, and watch it take off!

Extending the Straw Rockets Science Activity

How does the angle you launch your rocket affect the distance it travels? Try out different angles and record the results.

Can you design your own rockets to attach to the pipette or straw? Which designs work better?

Try adding another fin to your rocket with tape. How does it affect the flight of your rocket?

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Print out our free rocket printable and have fun making some straw rockets! The kids loved designing their own rockets and then launching them using straws- such a great way for kids to explore science! This post contains affiliate links. Here's an easy way to make straw rockets using just a few materials.

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Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} digs learning new things that make teaching easier and saves time. She enjoys featuring classroom activities, organizational tips and fun lesson plans from creative teachers. Google+

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How to Grow Plants in Kindergarten with a Sprout House - Teach Junkie

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It's fun to grow plants in kindergarten! Here is a way to make a little sprout house for each growing plant in kindergarten. This way everyone's plant can grow in a labeled, easy to view and observable space. The growing plants will get all that they need in this easy sprout house solution.

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Mission X takes place between January and March 2018, schools who register for the challenge will receive a Mission X astronaut training guide and stickers, and an invitation to take part in online CPD linked to the science activities. Primary and lower secondary school students will learn the principles of healthy eating and exercise, and earn points by finishing training modules.

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Clearly I am TERRIBLY bias, but I do love the crafts that Pip Squeak brings home from nursery. Recently, they made these adorable Paper Plate Flying saucers - such a wonderfully "classic" craft for kids and the kids adored making them as part of the "space lesson plans". I love how they made it easy for the 3 and 4yrs old preschoolers to do as much as possible themselves.

I then asked my Facebook readers for their favourite Alien Books or Space Books for kids ... and will share these below!

Paper Plate Flying Saucer:

Paper Plate Flying Saucer:

This is what Pip Squeak told me she did:

RED TED ART TV

1) The teachers traced a circle on the paper plate using the plastic cup and the children cut out the circle (well she did, some got help).

2) She then pained her big red spots

3) Then she drew and painted Alien and once dried cut it out. I think her alien is totally adorable. And the best thing about Aliens is, that like Monsters, there are no "right or wrongs". The kids can create to their heart's content.

4) The teacher's then helped them tape everything into place - the alien inside the plastic cup and the cup to the saucer.

And finished!! I did add a bit of PVA glue once home to secure it all a little more.

Fancy more SPACE CRAFTS? Check out these lovely Space ideas:

If you are looking for some lovely ALIEN BOOKS or SPACE BOOKS to go with this craft, check out the following (as suggested by my Facebook readers!) - Amazon affiliate links added for your convenience:

Q Pootle 5 - ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Aliens Love Underpants ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Whatever Next ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

My Sister is an Alien ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Man on the Moon ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Bob's Best Friend Ever ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

King of Space ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Albie and the Space Rocket ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Alien Tea ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Skippyjon Jones lost in Spice ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Aliens for Breakfast ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

The Accidental Space Ship ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Way Back Ho me ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Mickey Moonbeam ( US Readers/ UK Readers)

Looking for more Space Crafts? Take a look:

Looking for more Paper Plate crafts? Check out:

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Paper Plate Flying Saucer Craft + 15 Books About Space - Red Ted Art's Blog

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Clearly I am TERRIBLY bias, but I do love the crafts that Pip Squeak brings home from nursery. Recently, they made these adorable Paper Plate Flying saucers - such a wonderfully "classic" craft for kids and the kids adored making them as part of the "space lesson plans".

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Make a star dust sensory writing tray to create a magical and exciting early writing experience for young children! Much easier than using a pencil, it also enhances fine motor development and is a great sensory-rich experience to add to the playful literacy repertoire!

Writing and mark-making in salt trays is a common Montessori activity which encourages young children to use their fingers to literally feel the shape of the letters as they form them. It is wonderfully tactile and appeals to all sensory seekers and kinaesthetic learners, which most children are by nature.

We have written about our Salt Trays here, our Fairy Dust writing tray here and our Moon Dust writing tray activity here. All of these have been fun and exciting spin offs from the original salt tray idea, and can be tied in nicely with favourite themed picture books or to upport a topic plan.

For our latest sensory writing tray we made Star Dust! This was particularly magical and sparkly and appealed to all of the children.

To make the Star Dust I simply added a tiny amount of yellow food colouring to about 1/2 a cup of fine salt, and stirred it through until it was combined. Then we sprinkled lots of old glitter liberally and stirred it in until it was well dispersed. The final ingredient was a large handful of tiny silver star sequins, which really made it special!

I lined one of our little wooden trays with tin foil to give a shiny underlay which would show through when the salt was moved. Then we sprinkled the Star Dust on top, tied some gold ribbon around a star wand and set it up as an Invitation to Play and write.

Miss 2 made lots of lines, circles and squiggle marks in the dust and started to narrate what she was writing as she did so. She has been watching her big sisters sounding out words and reading books, and is now copying them often by saying "a, a, a, a" and "ssssssssss" etc while looking at books and mark making on her own!

Miss 4 used the tray to practise writing her own name and forming the letters correctly. It's ways to lightly shake the tray after finishing a word and start again, a bit like using an old fashioned Etch-a-Sketch. She then had a go at more letters and tried to sound out some words independently such as "Mum", "Dad" and her sisters' names.

Miss 6 used the tray to write some familiar and less familiar sight words, writing them down after hearing me call them out.

This activity can easily be adapted for different age groups and stages of early literacy development and is lots of fun!

Once finished, the Star Dust can be stored in a container indefinitely and used again repeatedly unless it gets dirty.

See all our other Playful Literacy ideas here.
What they are learning as they play:
Literacy: using shapes and marks to represent letters and meaning, forming letters (graphemes), recognising phonemes and matching them to the corresponding graphemes, sounding out small words independently, recognising and spelling sight words

physical: sensory play, fine motor skills

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Star Dust Sensory Writing Tray - The Imagination Tree

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Make a star dust sensory writing tray to create a magical and exciting early writing experience for young children! Much easier than using a pencil, it also enhances fine motor development and is a great sensory-rich experience to add to the playful literacy repertoire!

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A bit of star gazing can really capture a child's imagination. Here are some great ideas you can use to explore the idea of outer space, to introduce the planets, and enjoy some out-of-this-world sensory play.

Photos: Here Come The Girls, And Next Comes L, Still Playing School, Mama.Papa.Bubba., Fantastic Fun and Learning, NurtureStore

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A bit of star gazing can really capture a child's imagination.

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Our children have been playing Star Wars a lot lately so we have been busy dismantling our Fairy Castle Role Play this week and putting up a very shiny Space Centre.

We used lots of Christmas wrapping paper and foil blankets (the kind given out to marathon runners or put in emergency boxes).

For the control console we used coloured counters (tiddlywinks) and bottle tops glued onto black card.

Google Images kindly provided a countdown timer and a pressure dial which were mounted onto black card and we also printed out labels for countdown, high pressure and danger.

Finally we glued a big yellow lid (from a sweetener jar) onto black card and labelled it 'Booster' in a suitably digital font.

Add labels, warnings, a space log, astronaught outfits if you have them and led fairy lights to finish it off.

We also added a couple of Phonics phones ( http://www.classroomdiy.com/2012/05/diy-phonics-phones.html ) an old laptop and the top of a tardis just for the flashing light.

Can't wait to see the children's faces on monday morning.

Update: This was a huge hit with the children, prompting lots of new vocabulary, cooperation, imagination and much much more.

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Our children have been playing Star Wars a lot lately so we have been busy dismantling our Fairy Castle Role Play this week and putting up a very shiny Space Centre. We used lots of Christmas wrapping paper and foil blankets (the kind given out to marathon runners or put in emergency boxes).

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Make galaxy play dough for exciting space themed imaginative play and small world play set ups. Space themed play dough fun for preschoolers to enjoy!

The first time we made inky black, galaxy play dough it was considered quite a very unique thing and I received lots of comments on social media and the blog about how we made it so black and sparkly! I am so thrilled that making homemade play dough has become such a popular thing over the past few years, and now the number of recipes and play ideas to go with them is amazing. It really is one of my biggest passions.

My 5 year old is currently engrossed in her space project at school this term, and so we have been doing lots of space themed play together at home. So it seemed natural that first up we needed to make this galaxy play dough again, this time with lots of sparkly loose parts and little space play figures added into the mix!

I used an Ikea craft box (thank you to Mama.Papa.Bubba. for the inspiration to use these for making play dough kits- genius!) and into it we added:

black galaxy play dough

silver star sequins

glass nugget pebbles

a star cookie cutter

tin foil balls to resemble moon rocks

one set of Space Themed Toy Figures (includes astronauts and all rockets, satellites etc.) These are AWESOME!

[Amazon affiliate link.]

To make the galaxy play dough I simply added black gel food colouring to the boiling water while using our very easy, no-cook, 4 minute play dough recipe (click link to read full instructions.) You can also use ordinary black paint or powder paint too. When the colour was completely combined, we rolled the dough in silver glitter and it was ready to go!

We have played with a number of times and I've set it up differently for them to find. The first time they used it on a tray that had been lined with sparkly cellophane, which is a great way of keeping all the bits contained and relatively mess-free.

The next time I thought it would be fun to extend the play by using a mirror as the base, as there are so many reflective surfaces in the added loose materials. They were really engaged with the play on the mirror surface and made lots of stories about moon landings and explorations. They want to make some aliens to add to the scene next!
What they are learning as they play:
physical: fine motor skills, hand strengthening through squeezing/flatteing/rolling/cutting/pinching dough, pincer grasp

creative: imaginative play and storytelling

maths: counting and sorting objects

Quick link to our BEST EVER PLAY DOUGH RECIPE (you should pin this one for sure!)

See our complete A-Z of Play Dough Recipes and Activites here!

See all our SPACE THEMED PLAY here

Follow my PLAYDOUGH pinterest board here
Follow Anna @ The Imagination Tree's board Play Dough and Salt Dough Recipes and Ideas on Pinterest.

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Galaxy Play Dough and Space Small World - The Imagination Tree

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Make galaxy play dough for exciting space themed imaginative play and small world play set ups. Space themed play dough fun for preschoolers to enjoy! The first time we made inky black, galaxy play dough it was considered quite a very unique thing and I received lots of comments on social media and the blog about how we made it so black and sparkly!

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Space Play Dough is a recipe designed to create a type of play dough that imitates the space or the galaxy sky. It is a dark black colour mimicking the night sky and the gold glitter shimmers and resembles the sparkling stars in outer space.

Children will have hours of fun moulding, printing and shaping the play dough. Try creating mythical space creatures or a space ship, the imagination is endless!

What you will need?

2 cup Plain Flour

2 tbsp. Oil

2 Cup Warm Water

1 Cup Salt

4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

4 tsps. Black Food Colouring

1 ½ tbsp. Gold Glitter

How to make it?

1. Pour all dry ingredients, flour, salt, glitter and cream of tartar together in a saucepan.

2. Add a black food colouring to warm water and stir until blended.

3. Add coloured water and oil to dry ingredients.

4. Whisk before heating to remove lumps and blend the ingredients well.

5. Cook over medium heat constantly stirring until it becomes a thick blob.

6. Then turn out play dough onto a clean surface and knead into a smooth ball. Be careful the play dough will be very hot! Use a little bit of flour if the play dough is sticky.

7. Knead and roll the play dough until smooth.

8. Store in a plastic zip lock bag or air tight container.

You can download and print the recipe here: Space Play Dough Recipe

Available in Our Online Shop

We have lots of great play dough accessories available in our shop <click here>

More Play Dough Recipes <HERE>

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Space Play Dough is a recipe designed to create a type of play dough that imitates the space or the galaxy sky. It is a dark black colour mimicking the night sky and the gold glitter shimmers and resembles the sparkling stars in outer space. #SpacePlayDoughRecipe

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We are big fans of fun science here at Fun-A-Day! My son, my preschool students, and visiting friends always enjoy the experiments we come up with. Engineer (my son's nickname here on the blog) helped me come up with this fizzing planets activity. It's perfect for a preschool space theme I'll be teaching soon!

Are you following Fun-A-Day's SPACE THEME board?
Related: Glowing Galaxy Water Bin Space Activity
fun science with "exploding" jupiters

Materials
Baking soda
Liquid watercolors (I used Discount School Supplies, and THESE are great too)
Water
Vinegar
Eye droppers

Prep
Engineer and I checked out some pictures of Jupiter online, then decided on what colors to incorporate into our experiment. We settled on white, red, and orange even though that might not be 100% scientifically correct. 😉

We made baking soda paste to create mini "explodable" Jupiters. For each color, we mixed a cup of baking soda with about 1/4 cup water. We left the white batch alone, of course, but added liquid watercolors to the other two. The paste was thick enough to be patted together into shapes. If yours is too runny, add a little more baking soda. If it's too crumbly to hold together, add a little more water.

Making & "exploding" Jupiters!
To make Jupiter, we grabbed bits of all three colors and mixed them together into a small ball. To make the uniform spherical shape, we used our newHandy Scoopers. We could have just used our hands, but Engineer and I were itching for an excuse to use our new toys. In case you're wondering, we're aware that Jupiter's colors are more in a striped formation. We weren't able to get the stripes right, even though we tried!

After we had a few Jupiters done, it was time for some fizzing planet fun! Engineer called it "exploding Jupiter!" We drip-dropped vinegar on the planets and watched them bubble and dissolve. I had such a blast listening to all of his observations and questions about the chemical reaction! Needless to say, lots and lots of fun science ensued! We ended up making and "exploding" about seven planets before it was time for dinner. The kiddo asked if we could make other planets too, so I have a feeling we'll be doing just that soon!
Related: Fun Science Experiment with Fizzy Stars
What kind of fun science experiments do your children/students enjoy the most? I'd love to hear about them over at Fun-A-Day's Facebook page!

This fun science activity is a part of the A-Z Science Experiments series. Be sure to pop over there and see the rest of the experiments running through the alphabet this month!

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Fun Science for a Space Theme | Fizzing Planets | Fun-A-Day!

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We are big fans of fun science here at Fun-A-Day! My son, my preschool students, and visiting friends always enjoy the experiments we come up with. Engineer (my son's nickname here on the blog) helped me come up with this fizzing planets activity. It's perfect for a preschool space theme I'll be teaching soon!

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Learn how to paint space with watercolours in a simple way and fun way that would appeal to children. This technique includes the use of pipettes, which is always a hit in our house!

Space. Nebulas. Spaceships. Aliens. Distant planets. All seem suddenly close to our house right now since my son is going through the infatuation with what might be happening in galaxies far away. While his dad is trying diligently to fill his head with some useful information on the subject by following NASA news, we still more often than not wander into t imaginary play and paint new worlds, construct spaceships with blocks and land onto new planets which at most other times act as our beds and pillows.

After creating a lot of space paintings with acrylics, we naturally got curious about different media. Watercolours are much less controllable, but therefore a lot of fun for young children to make art with. Even if they just smear paint around and add some salt, it will still look good. We know because we've been doing it since my son was a toddler!

There are obviously many ways to paint space. That's usually the case with art, or it would be no fun. This is just one technique I tried with my four-year-old son that he found fun and accessible.

We used liquid watercolours for our project. They're vibrant and easy to use with pipettes. If you have watercolour pans, you might want to premix them with water. You will definitely need as many shades of violet, blue and magenta as you have. but be careful with adding other colours. A bit of minty green might be nice. My son is very fond of golden since we got it, and a little of that paint looks interesting. But for little artists, I would recommend excluding the rest of the palette for the project.

Using a transfer pipette, drip paint all over the piece of watercolour paper. Let some drops mix as they fall on the piece of paper. Be spontaneous and have fun. Kids seem to do this step just perfectly.

Using a wide brush and some water, do a quick wash over the sheet of paper. It's important to use watercolour paper for this project because drawing paper would tear or wrinkle during this step. It's lovely to see different colours flowing into each other and mixing randomly.

Do it sparingly so that grains of salt will look like nebulae or clusters of galaxies.

After the washes have completely dried, shake the remains of salt off and take white paint (white gouache/tempera/acrylic) and dilute it with water. Then take a brush and something to tap it against - an old wooden block, another brush or a pencil, anything. Flick the brush against the other object, and it will splatter little white dots everywhere. Watch the video below for a demonstration of the process.

And this is how it looks when finished!

Alright, I admit that right now we have about twenty of these paintings... Here are a few more of my favourites.

We'd be delighted to see your paintings of space You can post them on our Facebook page, email me or tag us on Facebook or Instagram - @adventureinabox.

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How to Paint Space in Watercolours with Kids - Adventure in a Box

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Learn how to paint space with watercolours in a simple way and fun way that would appeal to children. This technique includes the use of pipettes, which is always a hit in our house! Space. Nebulas. Spaceships. Aliens. Distant planets.

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Most kids I know are fascinated by stars, moon and sky in general. Why not use this fascination your kids already express to teach them a bit more about all the mysteries that hide up in the sky?! We collected 33 ideas to explore space through sensory play. Some of these are simple sensory bins with very few ingredients and some are more elaborate hands-on experiments that will be fun for kids to try and examine! Enjoy and have fun!

Entertain your space fan or create a new one with this Galaxy Sensory Bin complete with glow in the dark planets.

Raid your baking and junk art supplies and mix up some Outer Space Play dough for some out of this world fun.

Painting with Puffy Paint is a great way to get hands-on when learning about the Planets.

Bath time is much more interesting after you give your bathroom and bath tub a Glow in the Dark Outer Space Makeover.

Sensory Bags are perfect for little fingers to explore. Why not make your little one a Starry Sky Water Sensory Bag to play with.

Black water beads work really well alongside the brightly colored planets in this Space Water Bead Sensory Bin.

A fun Star Sensory Tub which works on color matching, as well as learning about space and shapes.

Get hands on and create some transient Van Gogh inspired art in this Starry Night Sensory Tray.

Work on letter recognition and letter sounds whilst scooping and pouring the contents of this Glowing Night-time Sensory Bin.

Find out how to make Cloud Dough glow and make some Cosmic Space Dough.

Slime is quick and easy to make and is even more fun when you add in glowing stars to make this Glow in the Dark Stars Space Slime.

Build a Sensory Space Fort for your child to explore and chill out in.

Homemade Moon Sand makes a great ingredient to add to a Space Themed Sensory Play activity.

Work on language development as you explore this extra sparkly Night Sky Sensory Bin.

Practice making marks in this Moon Dust Writing Tray.

The use of neon painted stars in this Neon Space Sensory Bin helps to take it to a whole new level of fun.

Invite your child to play with aluminum foil and watch them create a beautiful Starry Night Sky Picture.

Adding glitter to a moon dough recipe and you some super sparkly Moon Dough to play with.

Make your own DIY Glove Box to explore moon rocks like real astronauts.

A very cool science experiment to create a Galaxy in a Bottle.

This Starry Night Sensory Bin is a great tool for some hands-on maths fun.

A play dough recipe with added stretch and sparkle is perfect to create a Night Sky on.

Mix up some moon dust and make some moon rocks and enjoy hands-on learning fun with this Outer Space Sensory Bin.

Create your own Galaxy in a Jar.

This stunning Galaxy Oobleck will have your kids mesmerized.

Black and neon aquarium gravel make for a cool addition to this Space themed Busy Box.

Erupting Moon Dust is so much fun for making marks in.

This Galaxy Sensory Bin can be pulled together very quickly, making it great to pull out on a rainy day.

A smooth, super stretchy and extra sparkly Galaxy Dough which your kids won't be able to put down.

Making your own DIY Nebula Jar creates a great calming tool for your child to use.

There is lots of sparkly fun to be had with this Sparkly Star Confetti Slime.

Add some texture to your artwork with this touch and feel Eric Carle inspired Moon Art.

Enjoy some explosive fun with these Erupting Moon Rocks.

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33 Ideas to Explore Space Through Sensory Play

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Most kids I know are fascinated by stars, moon and sky in general. Why not use this fascination your kids already express to teach them a bit more about all the mysteries that hide up in the sky?! We collected 33 ideas to explore space through sensory play.

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. By clicking on these links I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

The Solar System is such a fun and mysterious topic. We know so much but there is so much that we don't know. We enjoy exploring the space in a variety of different ways. It's fun to explore, pretending to be an astronaut or a man on the moon.

We are sharing our Solar System themed posts but thought it would be fun to share our other favorites. We have included math, literacy, arts & crafts, sensory and science. We can't wait to add some of these ideas to our next Solar System Unit Study and we hope that you do too!
50+ Hands-On Solar System Projects For Kids Free Solar System Printable Free Printable Solar System Subtraction Activity Free Printable Solar System Matching Game Outer Space Activities For Kindergarten
&

More Fun Ideas For A Solar System Unit Study

S0lar System Theme: Literacy

Space Stones: Playing With Planets For Preschool from Playground Parkbench

Space Words Printables from A to Z Teacher Stuff

Moon Dust Writing Tray from Stir The Wonder

Space Syllables from Fairy Poppins

S0lar System Theme: Math

Fun Game For Kids: Counting Stars from JDaniel4'sMom

Planet Puzzles from The Kindergarten Connection

Outer Space Pattern Blocks from The STEM Laboratories

Astronaut Ten Frame Match from The Kindergarten Connection

Space Counting Mats from Liz's Early Learning Spot

Solar System Theme: Arts & Crafts

Solar System Craft from My Mundane and Miraculous Life

Make A Planet With An Old CD from Mommy In Sports

How To Make An Easy Kids Rocket Craft That Shines from Books and Giggles

Sticker Stars & Chalk Constellations from Gift of Curiosity

Planet Sun Catchers from Pre K Pages

Make A Telescope & See The Stars from Things To Share and Remember

S0lar System Theme: Sensory

Spell A Star Sensory Bin from My Mundane and Miraculous Life

Outer Space Discovery Bottle from Artsy Momma

Moon Dough from Learn Play Imagine

Stretchy Night Sky Playdough from Two Daloo

Space Water Bead Sensory Bin from 3 Dinosaurs

Solar System Theme: Science

DIY Nebula Jar from Mom Dot

Fizzy Stars from Fun-A-Day!

Erupting Moon Dust from Learn Play Imagine

Why Are There Craters On The Moon? from I Can Teach My Child!

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This Space Unit Study is Out of this World!

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. By clicking on these links I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. The Solar System is such a fun and mysterious topic. We know so much but there is so much that we don't know.

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Looking at outer space in our class? Find plenty of space themed play ideas, simple DIY projects and other space exploration activities for your Early Years classroom here.

One of the most powerful learning tools in the Early Years is engagement.
As a teacher or parent you can provide children with the best resources and setting yet if it doesn't capture a child's interest, the learning opportunities can be lost.
I am a strong advocate for purposeful play in early childhood. I do believe that play allows children to make progress in all aspects of their learning when it begins with their interests.
Young children are fascinated by the world around them and pretend play allows them the opportunity to learn about the world in a safe, familiar environment. Imaginative play is a valuable part of play so when the children in my class were interested in space, I created a few simple resources for play to follow their natural curiosity and capture their interest.

This post contains affiliate links.

As with anything you do, finding out what the children already know is important. After reading the picture book The Terrible Suitcase and talking about the book, I had a starting point.

To accommodate more children in the same space, we created a space station control centre. The expectation was two astronauts could be in the rocket while others sat in the control centre but they would need to change roles too.

I also created a small world in another corner of the classroom using some space themed story stones.

To make your own space themed story stones, you will need -

- clean dry flat stones (these came from a garden supply store)

- space pictures (I purchased some clip art sets on Etsy)

Simply cut out the pictures and then match them to a similar sized stone.

Paint the stone with some Mod Podge then lay the image on the Mod Podge while still wet then cover the picture with another layer of Mod Podge.

Leave them to dry on some baking paper or an old plastic shopping bag - something the Mod Podge won't stick to.

When dry, re-coat the entire stone with another later of Mod Podge. Start on the reverse side then front before leaving to dry completely.

We also used these space themed mats with our playdough. Who doesn't love googly eyes!

Inspired by these invitations, the children were making box rockets and constructing paper helmets to wear in the rocket. They were painting space pictures in our art space and understood why astronauts float in space while learning about gravity and forces in Science. We also continued our exploration of space into our literacy and numeracy blocks and prepared a dance to Hi-5's song Planet Disco for school assembly which the students loved as they all got to dress as astronauts. By creating these invitations, the children were engaged and extended their own learning as a result. Their vocabulary and understanding of concepts was improved through play.

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