Outer Space

• Weightless Astronaut Balloon
  1. Print out a picture of an astronaut (or use one from above!)
  2. Glue or tape the astronaut to an inflated balloon.
  3. Bop the balloon to keep it and the astronaut up in the air.
  4. Talk about how astronauts are weightless in space because there is no gravity.
  5. Have the kids imagine what it would be like to be weightless!
• Glowing Stars
  1. Use a piece of stiff, black paper.
  2. Lay the paper on the carpet and give the kids a pushpin.
  3. Let them make as many holes (stars) as they would like to all over their paper.
  4. If your kids are older, have them try making a constellation.   
  5. Turn off the lights and hold their star paper in front of a bright light. The light will shine through the holes making a sheet full of beautiful, glowing stars!

• Read There’s No Place Like Space by Tish Rabe.

   

• Outer Space Banner
  1. Print out the colorful images of each planet above. Or a great coloring page of the planets here. Click the “planets” link under supplies.
  2. Talk about what shape the planets are. Name the colors of each planet. Which planet has rings?
  3. Get out the little scissors and practice cutting on the dotted lines!
  4. Write numbers 1-8 on each planet square
     1. Mercury
     2. Venus
     3. Earth
     4. Mars
     5. Jupiter
     6. Saturn
     7. Uranus
     8. Neptune
  5. On a long strip of paper (blue or black!), help the kids glue the planets in order 1-8, closest to the sun to furthest from the sun. My kids just wanted to glue theirs to a paper so that’s what we did!
  6. NOTE: You could also make this into a mobile by taping a string to the back of each planet and hanging them in order from a clothes hanger
•  Astronaut Finger Rhyme 

Four Little Astronauts
Four little astronauts winking at me,
(Hold up fingers as rhyme indicates.)
One blasts off, now there are three.
Three little astronauts with nothing to do,
One blasts off, now there are two.
Two little astronauts afraid of the Sun,
One blasts off, now there is one.
One little astronaut alone is no fun,
He blasts off, now there are none.

 

• Circle the Stars!
  1. Have the kids stick lots of star stickers all over a black piece of paper.
  2. Use a white crayon and have them circle each of the stars … they won’t even know they’re practicing the letter O!