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You are here: Home / PreK-K / ABC ideas / Space Theme in Preschool Co-op

Space Theme in Preschool Co-op

February 20, 2011 by Maureen Spell 15 Comments

preschool space theme activities

My family is involved in a weekly homeschool co-op and I love that I get to be the toddler/preschool teacher. I have 6 students ages 2-4. This week I decided to revisit the space/astronaut theme that I did with my girls at home.

I always start out with a book. Our first book that we read was

 On the Moon by Anna Milbourne

Then we did a a couple songs and rhymes. First we sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

5astronautsThen we sang “Five Astronauts Went out to Play”  using the astronaut kids to illustrate the song. It is also a great informal math lesson. You can find this printable  in my ABC section  under Aa is for astronaut.

matchinggame After singing time, I had the students break out into small groups and work on individual activities. Some did a vocabulary match. These are words found in the book. I printed and laminated one page to be the control card, and then printed the second page and cut it up. You can download this from Homeschool Creation’s Astronaut Preschool Pack.

spacematchingSome students worked on a shadow matching game, also found in the Astronaut Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations. We  played with blue Playdoh, but I forgot to take pictures of that activity.

About half-way through the class (after snack etc.) We sat down for another book.

constellationsConstellations: A Glow-in-the-Dark Guide to the Night Sky

I didn’t read this book, but rather showed them some of the glow-in –the-dark constellations. They loved it! I talked about how sometimes groups of stars remind us of pictures. Then we looked at the picture and noted where the stars were on the picture. Next we turned off the lights –I thought they’d be a little afraid, but they loved seeing the stars glow!

planetsorderAfter showing the constellations, we talked about other things we see in the sky. Then I laid out photos of the 8 planets (something I got when I was a 1st grade teacher) and planet sequence cards from 1+1+1=1’s Solar System Preschool Pack. We counted the planets. We talked about which planet we live on. We pointed out which was the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. planets. Then we sang a planets song:

There are eight planets in our solar system
There are eight planets in our solar system
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
There are eight planets in our solar system.
(sung to “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”)

Click the photo to download a printable version.

planetsong
starpunch

After that, we went back to the tables to do a pin-push activity. I saw this idea at Counting Coconuts (btw, she has a lot more space ideas on her site)  and knew the kids would love it. I cut some pieces of foam-core board  and then printed individual constellations.  The students used jumbo push-pins to mark a hole on the stars in the constellation. This was a hit!

Whew!  After all of that, some kids colored and others had time for some free-play. There are still so many cool space ideas that I have bookmarked that I might just stretch this theme out for another week! 🙂

More space-themed resources:

Aa is for Astronaut from Totally Tots
Living Montessori Now space-theme post part 1
Living Montessori Now space-theme post part 2
M&M constellations & Oreo cookie moon phases

Tot School

preschool corner

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Filed Under: ABC ideas, PreK-K Tagged With: letter A

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Comments

  1. sarahssweeties says

    February 20, 2011 at 9:48 am

    Very cute study!!! I love all your ideas!

    Reply
  2. Michelle says

    February 20, 2011 at 11:30 am

    Hi! I'm stopping by from the TOS Crew to let you know that your blog is on this week's Blog Walk.

    Reply
  3. Carisa says

    February 20, 2011 at 12:36 pm

    Good grief! Here I thought I had all of my ideas printed and ready to begin on Monday, now I need t print and laminate another awesome song! 😉

    Reply
  4. Alyssa says

    February 20, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    What a cool thing…a homeschool co-op. Great theme by the way!

    Reply
  5. JDaniel4's Mom says

    February 20, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    The constellation book and activity look wonderful. JDaniel would love them.

    Reply
  6. Ticia says

    February 20, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    What a great space unit. Maybe this summer we'll revisit space. One of my boys is a space fanatic.

    Reply
  7. Laura says

    February 20, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    What a great unit! We've also learned about the solar system over the past few weeks. I really like the song!

    Reply
  8. Briana says

    February 20, 2011 at 11:02 pm

    Hi, I'm visiting from the crew blogwalk.

    Reply
  9. Teaching Heart Mom says

    February 20, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    Love this idea and theme…
    Just gave you the stylish blogger award. http://teachingheartmom.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  10. Elle Belles Bows says

    February 21, 2011 at 12:44 am

    Great week! I am definitely going to check out the first book. Thanks for sharing your printables too! Kerri

    Reply
  11. Drea says

    February 21, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    What a great theme! I'll have to keep this one in mind. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Christina says

    February 22, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    My dd is in love with rockets and astronauts – I am definitely going to look for that constellation book. I am also hoping to plan a trip to the Kenneday Space Center soon.

    Reply
  13. Marie says

    February 22, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    You are so creative. I love all of your ideas, I may have to use a few when we study letter A or S. Thanks for stopping by my blog =)

    Reply
  14. Jackie H. says

    February 23, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    This looks so fun! My son loves rockets so this would be a fun extension for him. Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas.

    Reply
  15. Michelle says

    February 25, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Lots of great ideas (as usual)!

    Thank you for participating in last week's High paw! Looking forward to see your new ideas so please stop by and add them! 🙂

    Reply

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