That vast universe hanging over his head can be a magical place for a little one. With a vivid imagination and exuberant energy, your youngster might enjoy learning about the night sky and stars. Come up with a few cut and paste activities to get the creative juices flowing. These hands-on lessons will help your child learn memorable astronomy lessons.
Starry Poster
With a large sheet of black poster board, the night sky can come alive at your child’s fingertips. Use a die-cut machine to make star cutouts or purchase ready-made star cutouts. Trace a full or crescent moon shape onto white paper and help your little one cut out this shape. Apply glue to the tops of the star shapes and sprinkle snazzy glitter over the stars to give them pizzazz. Help your little one decide just where to glue the stars and the moon on the poster board to create the starry poster.
Moon Phases
The moon changes shape continually throughout the month. On any given day, you may see a full circle, a half circle or smaller crescent shapes. Without getting too complicated, draw the basic phases of the moon on white paper. Include a full circle, half circle, waning crescent and waxing crescent. Help your little one cut out the shapes with a scissors. After cutting out the shapes, help him glue them onto a black sheet of paper to illustrate the phases of the moon.
Create Constellations
Share a few fun constellations with your child, such as the Big Dipper, Ursa Major, Orion and Cassiopeia. Provide a big sheet of black poster board for creating a night sky full of starry constellations. Draw 1-inch-diameter circles on white paper for the constellation's stars. If your child is handy with scissors, let him do the cutting. If he needs help, you’ll have to buckle down and cut out the stars for him. Once you have the necessary stars, glue them onto the black background in the design necessary to make whatever constellation is desired. He could even make up his own imaginary constellation instead. After gluing, connect the stars with a white crayon line to finish the constellation pictures.
Fun With Star Shapes
Who said that star shapes have to be ho-hum? Trace around a star cookie cutter with a pencil to make several stars. Once you have drawn the shapes, have your little one cut them out. Use a kitchen sponge dipped in bright paint colors to sponge or dab colors onto the star shapes. Let the paint dry and then glue the stars onto a sheet of black poster board.