Hi friends!
My 2 boys (3.5 and almost 6) are both super into space right now and many of you have told me that your students are really interested in space too (many student's interest sparked by the recent solar eclipse!) so I decided to round up my favourite space books, videos and share some of the activities I made to incorporate space into literacy and math learning!
BOOKS:
First here are some of our favourite books about space!
"Little Kid's First Big Book of Space" and "My First Book of Planets" both deliver lots of solar system facts in child friendly language! If you kiddos are interested in dwarf planets, "My First Book of Planets" has a section on them!
If you're looking for a super simple book to use as an introduction to the solar system, the Solar System book by Jill McDonald (which is part of the Hello World series) is a nice quick read that introduces the planets and a fact about them.
And lastly, my boys are interested in Mars exploration and rovers so "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover" was a hit! If your class shows interests in Mars exploration or rovers, give this one a read!
VIDEOS:
My youngest originally got interested in space from YouTube songs! Here are some of their favourites:
Here are the links to each on YouTube! (Left to right, top to bottom):
The Planet Song by Kids Learning Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrlgH97v94
The Planets from Out Solar System Song by Hopscotch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvfVTPYw-kA
The Dwarf Planets Song by Hopscotch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3kWuMi0Y8
The Dwarf Planet Song by Kids Learning Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsFSUuou14Y
We are the Planets by Storybots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAqT4hXnMw
Star Size Comparison: The first song in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOTNbvotQN8
Do You Know the Names of Every Mars Rover? by Kids Learning Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3mEeF3dlVc
If you are looking for videos on other space topics, the Kids Learning Tube channel has educational space videos on almost any space topic you can think of!
ACTIVITIES:
Here are some of the activities I made to incorporate space into literacy and math centres!
LITERACY:
1. SPACE SENSORY BIN + WORD CHART + NAPKIN BOOKS
I've been eyeing the resin loose parts from @littleplayco for a while now, and when she posted these space loose parts I knew I had to bite the bullet and grab some! She only does limited drops so follow her on Instagram to stay up to date on that!
I also picked up a Space TOOB by Safari Ltd from Micheals and some star beads to add to this bin and also use with some of the other activities! Here are the links if you are interested in grabbing them too:
Space TOOB: https://canada.michaels.com/en/safari-ltd-toob-space/10662482.html?productsource=PDPYMAL
Pearlized Star Beads: https://canada.michaels.com/en/pearlized-star-beads-by-creatology-10mm/10738817.html
Glow in the Dark Star Beads: https://canada.michaels.com/en/glow-in-the-dark-star--beads-by-creatology/10684403.html
I put some dry black beans in the tub as a base and then added the resin planets, figurines from the space TOOB and some star beads.
Then I invited my kids to make and (optional) record a story!
The first day, my oldest (who is the only writer currently) did not have any interest in the napkin book, but the next morning I came downstairs to him independently working on writing solar system facts (or at least attempting to) in the napkin book using the space words chart!
If you've followed me for sometime you might recall that he is not a fan of writing activities. So this was such a nice surprise! And a good reminder that offering the tools, being patient and letting them take the lead can be huge for some kids :)
Are you wondering what a napkin book is? It's just paper napkins with blank paper cut to fit and stapled inside it! It's a relatively economical way to make mini books that may spark the interest of your little learners! I got these paper napkins at Party City.
*The word charts shown in the photo above and any printable that is not a freebie in this post are all in my Kindergarten Space Themed Centres: Literacy, Math, Fine Motor & More! pack on TPT. You can find it here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Space-Themed-Centers-Literacy-Math-Fine-Motor-More-11502460 and I'll also link it again at the bottom of this post!
2. SPACE THEMED TRACING
We are still very much working hard on pencil skills so I made up some dry erase tracing activities as well!
Here are some with pre-writing lines:
I made this "Help the shuttle get to the moon" cards for letters, numbers and shapes that do not require the lifting of a pencil/marker.
And then a simple tracing activity you can throw into your dry erase centre!
3. SPACE THEMED BEGINNING SOUND SEARCH
This was a surprising hit with my 5 year old! The task is to say what the picture is, isolate the beginning sound, find it in the mini sensory bin (I added black beans and star beads to this mini sensory bin) and place it on the line. Once all of the letters have been matched, he was invited to record the beginning sounds on the recording sheet! It was a fun way to work on beginning sounds and pencil skills!
4. MY BOOK OF SPACE WORDS
So many of you always tell me mini books are popular in your class (they were always popular in my classes too!) so I made sure to include a space mini book too!
There are a few options, trace the word, trace the word in a sentence or fill in the blank. You can use the option that best fit the needs of your class or copy a few of each kind and let your students choose! There are also many pages included for this booklet so you an just choose 5-6 pages you think your students would like the most if you think all of them would be too overwhelming!
5. WRITE THE ROOM: PLANETS
Another centre that is always popular is write the room, so I knew I had to include one in the space pack too!
If your learners are not quite ready to print the letters on their own, you can offer them this trace the room version! I like to print a trace and write the room double sided so the kids can easily flip to the side that best fit their printing ability :)
6. SPACE TRACING (FREEBIE!)
I'm always looking for fun ways to practice pencil skills with my son, so I made up these simple space themed trace and colour sheets!
You can find these free by clicking here or on the image below:
MATH:
1. SPACE THEMED TRACE & MAKE
Number and letter formation practice is on going in Kindergarten, so I knew I had to incorporate it somewhere in the space pack. So here's what I came up with! Students will trace the numbers starting at the start and then add that many stars to the night sky. Again, I used these: Creatology Pearlized Star Beads from Micheals!
2. BUILD A SPACE SCENE
Here's a fun centre for working on 1:1 correspondence and fine motor skills! Students are invited to read the cards and then add that many stars, moon and planets to the space mat.
I added pom poms and play dough for the planets, grey flat marbles for the moons and star beads for the stars, but you can use any round/star shaped small manipulative you have on hand!
My kids LOVED this one! My 5 year old read the cards and made a scene that matched the cards while my 3 year old decided to just play and make a space story with the loose parts. It can be an open ended activity with multiple entry points so I hope all learners feel a sense of success with this one!
4. ORDERING PLANETS
My youngest LOVES putting things in order (you can find evidence of him all around the house with many things lined up in order from smallest to biggest) so I knew I needed to make him a planet ordering activity!
I attached magnets on the back of the planets and taped the space mat to the cookie sheet. It's optional but it elevates the planets making it easier for little hands to pick up and place on the mat and also pieces get lost less since they stick to the cookie sheet!
We also did this cut and paste worksheet to work on scissors skills and ordinal numbers!
5. SORTING STARS (FREEBIE)
This activity combines working on sorting by colour, fine motor skills (threading the star beads onto the correct star wand), 1:1 correspondence and numeral identification! My kiddos loved this one! I "hid" the star beads in the mini sensory bin (I took the letters out of the one I used for the beginning sounds activity above and just reused that!) and had them search and thread the beads on to the correct wands :) Then they counted the beads and put a magnetic number on each star on the "Sort & Count" mat!
Want to grab this freebie to try in your classroom? Click here or on the button below to download it from Google Drive!
6. EXTENDING SPACE PATTERNS
Here are some simple patterning strips where students can practice extending patterns! You can also print extras of the little squares and have students make their own space patterns!
7. MEASURE & RECORD - SPACE
Another centre that is always popular is the "Measure & Record" centre! Students are invited to measure each space item and then record it on the recording sheet!
I hope you were able to grab some ideas if your students are interested in space too!
If you would like to grab the printables shown in this pack, you can find it in my "Kindergarten Space Centres: Literacy, Math & Fine Motor" here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Space-Themed-Centers-Literacy-Math-Fine-Motor-More-11502460 or by clicking on the image below:
- Yukari
