Galaxy Gloop and Rockets

We finished off our space theme on Monday.  There were so many fun ideas and activities that we went way, way over our usual hour, which was just fine with the kids.

The littles were a bit loony at first so we turned on our Dance N Beats DVD and worked out the wiggles with the warm up song.  They liked it so much we used it in between every activity as a transition.

We worked on size sorting and comparing more and less with the assorted foam stars.  I tossed them onto the carpet and assigned each of the three kiddos a size to hunt for and count, then we used the number line to determine who had a lot, a few and a medium amount.

The glitter galaxies were a huge hit and I love my nephew's name for his (Dragon Breath Galaxy--can you tell he's five?)  I had some little paper cups leftover from another craft and used those to hold their glue/paint mixture.  They worked perfectly.

The rocket shape game was fun and good practice for taking turns and following directions as well as reviewing shapes and colors.  For the playing pieces, they each chose a different moon from the Balancing Moon Game and we discussed the colors, patterns and sizes of those before we started the game.  We also practiced using a spinner, which is something you might not think you need to teach but is important for future board game use.  Unfortunately I had my hands full keeping everyone on their own space paths and couldn't take photos but I have found in my work as a speech therapist that using simple game boards is a great way to couch any sort of "teaching".  I would create game cards using my student's target sound or vocabulary but you could use any skill you are working on (colors, numbers, letters) and require one card be worked on before each turn.  Kids love it and don't see it as "work".

Another favorite activity was the Rocket Twirler, which quickly became a kite when held aloft by swiftly running toddlers yelling "5-4-3-2-1...BLAST OFF!!"  They decorated with star stickers, crayons and crumpled crepe paper "flames".  I try not to direct how they choose to decorate their crafts although I did help them assemble the pieces in the correct order on the yarn.  Other than that, I let them explore and use their own artistic processes.

Oh, Galaxy Goo, how excited I was to make you, never mind the littles.  Oh, Janai, when will you learn to stop substituting ingredients for those called for in the recipe?  In my defense, I realized Sunday night that I didn't have any liquid starch and since I don't shop on the Sabbath decided to turn to Pinterest to save me.  I followed a popular recipe for making your own liquid starch (reasoning with myself that I was saving money at the same time because I only need 3/4 cup and not a full bottle but have since been informed by my art teacher mother than liquid starch is a fabulous crafting material to have on hand in greater quantities).  Alas, our goo was more gloop and did not thicken up to a useable consistency, although the kids did really enjoy getting to take turn adding the "starch" and glitter and then stirring it all together.  Some day soon we will attempt this again.  Maybe I will dye it blue and make a primeval ocean sludge for our ocean unit.

We will be starting our ocean unit on Monday, thanks in part to another round of illness but tomorrow I will be using the Bonus Days curriculum included for Easter with Miss M and her cousin so check back for that post in the next few days!