Outer Space Week

We did this theme last summer, and it was one of my kids favorite! Here are some of the things we did last year, along with some new ideas too :)

At the beginning of the week we are going to make paper mache planets. I am really excited for this since I have never done it before. We will make them on Monday so they have a couple of days to dry before we paint them. Here is a link to directions if you are a newbie like me :) Paper Mache planets

Another craft is too get a paper plate and let the kids glue pasta and dried beans on it. Then once they have dried you cover the plate with aluminum foil and it looks like the moon with lots of craters.

Our week wouldn't be complete without a visit to the local Planetarium. Although its a little bit of a drive, its free unless you want to see the movies and the kids always have a great time there.

At one point in the week I will be making this for dessert...

You just make a chocolate cake and bake it in a glass bowl. Then you crush oreos in the frosting and add some whole ones to look like the craters.

If you have preschool age children and younger, this is a great week to learn about shapes too! I think we will make jello jigglers in the shapes of stars, crescents, circles etc to reinforce those shapes that are often seen in outer space.

The activity I am looking forward to the most is this...

You simply make a few different stamps out of potatoes and then stamp away! I got this idea from Family Fun. First you stamp in white paint and then you let it dry and stamp over it with the glow in the dark paint. We are going to make these for the kids and then they can wear them when we go to the planetarium later in the week.

We can't forget about the good old letter of the week? Any guesses? The Letter M! Click on the link to go to the direct page to print out the writing sheets.

Lastly we are going to make meteors to play with out of styrafoam balls. You just cover them with aluminum foil and then attach crepe paper as streamers. Then we can go outside and throw them around! Hope you all have a great week!!