Preschool Space Activities
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Hello! I’m finally back with another full-length Tot School unit! The past month has been so busy with traveling, getting the kids back to school (school started on July 31st here – it’s insane!), and most importantly Goose turned 4! Needless to say I have had my hands full, but even when I wasn’t here sharing content with you I was still brainstorming ideas and I have some AMAZING stuff in the pipeline for you guys. First, is this awesome tot school unit full of toddler and preschool space activities. This will be a longer than normal unit, so be sure to sign up for my emails so you won’t miss a thing. I’ll never spam you but I WILL send you access to my complete library of free resources. Think worksheets, templates, TONS of nomenclature cards and more!
So, the ‘Great American Eclipse’. Did you watch it? I feel like the whole country went crazy with eclipse fever and of course our house was no exception. We were loaded down with our eclipse themed snacks (Moon Pies, Sun Chips, Capri Sun, & Milky Way Bars of course!) and I even made eclipse pancakes for breakfast. After all the hype I feel like the experience was kind of a letdown. We live close enough to experience 97% totality and if no one had told me we were having an eclipse I probably never would have noticed. The one good thing that came out of it though was a newfound interest in space for Nugget & Goose. Now both boys want to be astronauts and fly to Mars.
I created these preschool space activities and tot school unit at Goose’s direct request, so they are definitely kid tested and kid approved. I can’t wait to hear how your kids like them too – tell me in the comments!
DIY Solar System Magnets
These magnets were so much fun to make and require absolutely no artistic ability whatsoever. Best of all, your shopping list only has 2 items on it! This is definitely a project that you could knock out during nap time while you binge on Netflix, or if you have an older child let them help or even make their own. At (almost) 2 and 4 both of my boys have enjoyed working with these magnets. Nugget enjoys the resistance of lifting the strong magnets off the cookie sheet and matching them to the play mat. Goose is able to name all of the planets and is now working on placing them in their correct order.
Edit: It has now been more than a week since I introduced this activity and Nugget is still requesting it multiple times a day. This may be one of my most successful activities ever!
Supplies:
- Sculpey Clay in Assorted Colors (I like this multipack
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- 1 package of small Round Ceramic Magnets
- An assortment of round objects from around the house in a variety of sizes to use as stencils. I used jars, lids, cookie cutters, and even a pill bottle. Just about anything will work.
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Instructions:
- Start by laying out your stencil items and making note of which item you will use for each planet. It may help to remember that the sun is the largest, followed by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Mars, Venus and finally Mercury.
- Decide which planet you want to start with and select the colors that you feel best reflect your planet’s appearance. I used solid colors for Mars, Mercury and Uranus. Earth was just a solid blue circle that I added some tiny green continents to, and the Sun, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune were made by swirling multiple colors together.
- You’ll quickly learn that this clay is super easy to work with – if you can roll a ball and smash it flat you can do this.Once you have your planets decorated, flip them over and gently press a magnet into the back to make an indentation – DO NOT LEAVE IT THERE! – Remove the magnet and use a thin snake or tube of clay to make a lip around where the magnet will go. You are trying to create a well in the back of your planet to hold the magnet once you are done. This, combined with some super glue should make it more difficult for little ones to pry the magnets loose.
- Once you have finished decorating your planets and creating your magnet housings on the back you can place them on an aluminum cookie sheet and bake at 275°F for 15 min. DO NOT BAKE YOUR YOUR PLANETS WITH THE MAGNETS INSIDE.
- Allow clay to cool fully before handling your planets, then use Super Glue to adhere your magnets to the back of your planets.
- Pat yourself on the back – you just made something awesome and your kids are going to love it!
Notes:
- I highly recommend using Sculpey brand clay for this project. Fimo is an alternate product but I don’t like working with it. The product is too crumbly and difficult to blend.
- When decorating your planets, an easy technique is to lay a thin strip of accent color across the surface and then use your finger to smooth and smear it. The clay blends really easily and this will create a more natural mottled look.
- If you go to glue in your magnets and one doesn’t quite fit, you can use a craft knife to plane out the edges to make room for your magnet.
- I hate that I have to say this in nearly every post, but as always please use common sense. Magnets and broken pieces of clay are just 2 of the many things your child should not ingest so please use your best judgment on when your child is ready for this activity and always supervise them to ensure their safety.
The Best Part:
OK, you’ve spent an hour of your valuable time making these things – what do you do with them? I have that part covered for you! I designed a set of 3 play mats to use with your solar system magnets. The first play mat features all of the planets in our solar system for easy matching. This is a great starting point, particularly for younger children. After your child becomes more comfortable naming the planets and their order you can progress to the second play mat which shows the sun and lines for each planet’s orbit. Finally the 3rd play mat is an image of space with no planets. This is perfect for free-play or allowing a child to fully recreate our solar system on her own. I recommend laminating your play mats for increased durability and using them on a small baking sheet.
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Toddler Star Sorting Boxes
Size discrimination is an early math skill that builds the foundation for so much later in life. This activity takes those size discrimination skills a step further by adding a fine motor component. When you do sizing activities with your toddler they develop vocabulary (larger, smaller, medium) and communication skills. Would you ever have guessed before having children that putting objects in boxes could be so educational?!
Supplies:
- 1 package of small wooden stars in assorted sizes
- Gold acrylic paint
- 3 small cardboard boxes with lids
- An Exacto knife or box cutter
Instructions:
- Begin by painting your stars gold on one side. Once they have dried, flip them over and paint the other side. Don’t stress about making it perfect – you’re going to be painting at least 30 of these things. Your toddler will never notice a streaky paint job.
- Measure each size star to determine the maximum width between points and draw a line on your box tops to match each size.
- Carefully cut a slit in the lid of each box to correspond to the size of your stars. You should have one large slot, one medium slot and one small slot.
- File the edges of the slot to ensure that it is smooth (and while you’re at it check for rough spots on your stars and touch those up too).
- <Optional> Decorate your boxes with paint, stickers, etc. I left mine plain since I think I will be recycling this activity at Christmas 🙂
I find that the activities I create draw more attention when I present them in an attractive way. This makes it seem ‘special’ and the child is eager to participate. I recommend placing all 3 boxes on a tray along with a small bowl or basket containing the gold stars. When your child is ready, demonstrate the various sizes of stars and show them how to place a star in the slot. As a Montessori-inspired activity it is self-correcting. This means that the child will only be able to fit the large star into the large slot, thereby correcting the child if he or she attempts to place it in the wrong box. Once all the stars are in the box you can show your child how to open the box to retrieve their stars. This will probably be their favorite part.
Nugget had so much fun with this activity. He isn’t interested in the sorting the stars, but Goose really enjoys helping him with that part. In fact, I assumed this activity would be too easy to attract Goose but he really enjoyed helping to sort the stars and experimenting with how many could fit in one slot. Anything that occupies both boys and has them getting along is a HUGE win in my book!