Tag: Space Week

Outer Space Matching Game

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Need a rainy day activity or a quiet activity to help pass that scary antic-packed hour as you make dinner? Outer Space Matching Game to the rescue!!

Matching games can help little ones with visual recognition, train their visual memory, improve concentration and attention to detail, and increase short term memory. Memory games can also be used to increase classification and grouping skills!

You can grab the FREE printable HERE and then start playing! I chose to laminate my sheets before cutting to make them more durable, but that step is totally optional!

I love all the vocabulary you can learn from this Outer Space Matching Game, too! It can be the jumping off point for so much space-themed conversation! Or, better yet, use this to reinforce concepts that you have already read about!

If you have a younger child you can start introducing matching games by using fewer cards and keeping them face up. As they get quicker at these 6 pairs, then you can rotate in new matches. Or try turning these familiar cards face down to see how they do!

Did you miss the FREE printable with the matching game cards? You can grab it HERE now!

Once unexpected perk of playing this matching game in our house is that our little lady is learning what “taking turns” actually means. She thought she could keep turning over cards until she found her match, but big brother had a very different opinion about that! It led to great conversation about what our house rules would be.

Want to check out another fun themed matching game? Find my Under the Sea Matching Game HERE!

Happy Gaming!

Number Rockets

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Want to give your kiddo a leg up before Kindergarten? Or refocus your 1st and 2nd grader before school gets back in session? These number rockets are just the tool to help you!

🚀  5, 4, 3, 2, 1…. BLASTOFF!!! 🚀 

I love this #SpaceWeek activity because it is so versatile! Each rocket is comprised of three sections – the top is a domino counting piece, the middle is a numerical digit, and the bottom is a ten-frame.

I had no idea how prevalent ten-frames were in current curriculum trends until my kiddo went to Kindergarten. They started with ten-frames almost immediately and continued to use them throughout the year. I love that this activity can reinforce digit recognition, counting, grouping, and more!

Grab the FREE printable HERE and you will be all set to launch!

I printed mine out in three colors to make the activity extra colorful. You will need 1 sheet of paper for the top of the rocket, 2 sheets of paper for the middle of the rockets, and 2 sheets of paper for the bottom of the rockets. That’s 5 sheets of paper total if you are still trying to do the math 🤪

This printable covers numbers 1-10 and is a great reinforcement for kiddos learning to count, group, and work with numbers in various forms.

The bottom of the rockets are a bit tedious to cut out, but look how amazing they look when finished! You could totally laminate the sheets of paper before cutting to give some prolonged durability.

Did you miss the FREE printable? Grab it HERE now!

Happy Counting!

Planets of Fruit

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Everyday comparison to your reader learn the scale of the planets in our solar system

As we were reading all our books for #SpaceWeek I ran across this amazing comparison. Did you know that you can show the scale of the planets with FRUIT?! 🤯🤯🤯

My kiddos are pretty young to digest the size and scope of the universe…. Let’s be real, I am too young or finite to understand the size and scope of the universe! Comparing the size of each planet to a piece of fruit was the perfect thing to give all of us a reality check!

With fruits that I have on hand (and one or two extras grabbed at the local grocery) we were able to line up the planets in their distance from the sun order.

Mercury and Earth are approximately the same size – the size of a grape or small cherry tomato. Venus and Mars are the size of a blueberry, but I couldn’t buy just 2 blueberries so I grabbed some dried cranberries to fill those spaces.

Jupiter was everyone’s favorite. It is so GIANT in comparison to the rest. Plus then we served the watermelon to our Community Group and my daughter went around saying “Did you know you’re eating Jupiter?” It got lots of confused looks and laughs as she explained the project we had done!

Saturn is a large grapefruit, Uranus is an orange, and Neptune an apple. All very approachable and easy to find foods!

Check out my little fact checker measuring to see if I picked tomatoes that were the correct size 😂

“You did a good job picking fruit mama” she says.

I say that’s a win!

Happy Comparing!

Flutter Ribbon Rocket

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Space Week is turning out to be a huge learning opportunity for me! I am fully embracing the challenge and wonder that come with new discoveries! A sweet friend told me of all kinds of local activities that would go with our Space Week theme so stay tuned to see how many of those we can incorporate this week! We might need a longer space unit soon!

We are reading tons of fun space-related books this week. One thing most have in common…. a countdown to a BLAST OFF! This fun activity can help your reader imagine they are blasting off to space in their own rocket!

Materials:

  • Grab your FREE Flutter Ribbon Rocket printable HERE
  • Markers, crayons, or pencils to color your design
  • Scissors and tape
  • Streamers in fiery colors
  • A string and a stick (we used a lollipop stick from a hobby store! It was the perfect length for little hands!)

Once you grab your free printable, let your little reader go crazy coloring their unique design. I love that the rockets are as original as the kiddos who make them!

Then, help your little to cut out the rocket ship.

Now let your little use tape or glue to fix the streamers to the bottom of the rocket. I like keeping the streamers pretty long so that there is a lot of “fire” swirling around as they play. Just remember, you don’t want your reader stepping on and tripping on the streamers!

Next, tape the string to the top of the rocket (or punch a hole and tie it!) and tape the other end of the string to the stick.

Check out these 2 amazing rockets that these sweet kiddos made at story time this week! I loved seeing all the rockets flying all around the room!

Flying them outside is even more beautiful! A little bit of wind and your rocket will get picked up like a kite!

Bonus – they are the perfect decoration for our bookshelf while not in use!

How fun is this? I cannot wait to hear what adventures your reader goes on while racing their personal Flutter Ribbon Rocket around!

Did you miss the FREE printable Flutter Ribbon Rocket? Click HERE to download now!

Happy Rocket Launching!

Outer Space Word Search

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Have you ever been so excited about teaching your kids something and then, the more you research projects, the more you realize you know NOTHING about the subject?!?!

No? Just me? HA!

I am totally that way with #SpaceWeek. I am fascinated with space but the more that I read, the more I realize I know very little about space. I mean I know the basic sun, stars, moon, and a handful of planets, but ask me to put them in order of size or distance from the sun and I am stuck. Then add in things like meteors, comets, nebula, and asteroids and I am totally at a loss.

Outer space is packed with the most fascinating things. And to think there are more rocks, constellations, orbits, and galaxies to still explore. I am totally enthralled!

To help you brush up on your space lingo I created this fun Outer Space Word Search for you. It is packed with all kinds of fun things we will talk more about this week.

Grab the FREE printable HERE!

My son has informed me that there are too many words 🤣, but I love a good challenge. I am looking forward to working on it this afternoon over a fresh cup of coffee!

Happy Word Hunting!

P.S. Did you miss the printable?? HERE it is again! 😉