Some good "Space" themed crafts or games for 4-6 year olds?

Question

The age group is 4-6 so Pre-K and Kindergarden. Please real answers, not "google". Oh, and the prices for materials can't be to much because 18-23 kids will be making it :) Thank you so much in advance!

Answer 1

Have the children paint a paper plate gray.  Provided skin toned colored circles a bit smaller than the plate.  Have them create their self potrait and glue onto their "space helmet".

Yellow play dough mixed with gold glitter.  Provide star, circle, and crescent shaped cookie cutters.  You could also provided a dark construction paper "sky mat"...if you don't have access to a laminator then use contact paper.

Make Shooting Stars... paint and/or decorate yellow stars.  Attach to a dowel or straw and add the decorative curling ribbon.  You could have them write their names on the star and put it up for a display.

The above ideas were from a Mailbox Preschool Magazine.

Incorporate the rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle...if you search this rhyme online you will come up with many games, art/crafts ideas etc.

Moon Walking: Snip several chunks from the bottom of large sponge. Cut 12-inch circles from white construction paper to make a class supply. Line the bottom of a shallow tray with paper towels and then saturate the paper towels with gray tempera paint. To make a texture that conveys the moon’s surface, a child presses the prepared side of the sponge onto the paint-soaked paper towels and then onto a paper circle. Next, have each child draw and color a self portrait on a 5”x7” rectangle of white paper. Help him trim around the self-portrait and glue it to the moon.  If desired, assist him to preparing and gluing an American flag cutout beside his self-portrait.

Moon Art:  Collect jar lids and half-moon shape objects in different sizes.  Provide black paper (or dark blue) and yellow tempera paint for the children to print.  May also want to provide gold star stickers or star shaped objects for the children to also print with.

Moonwalk:  Place several pillows on the floor, and cover them with large quilts or blankets.  Encourage your children to walk on this soft, lumpy surface.  Have them pretend they are astronauts walking on the moon.

The Big Dipper:  Make a miniature planetariums.  Cover one end of an empty toilet tissue tube with black paper and tape in place.  Gently poke holes in the paper to resemble the big dipper.  Have the children hold up the tube to the light and look through the end.

•Use other constellations

•Cover a table with dark fabric and place glow in the dark stars on the bottom of the table.  Have a couple flashlights nearby.

Stardust Jars:  Mix oil, water, food coloring, and glitter in a clear plastic bottle. Make sure to seal the bottle tightly. The contents will mix and float in the bottle. Your children will love it.

Mining Moon Rocks: Provide muffin tin, tongs, and a nobreakable magnifying glass close by to sand table.  A child uses the tongs to transfer each rock into an empty section of the muffin tin. Then she uses the magnifying glass to study each rock.

Living In Space:  Create a window into space by securing a length of black b.b. paper on a nearby wall. Glue a moon and several star cutouts on the paper and then push a table against it. For a control panel, use construction paper cutouts and stickers to decorate a sheet of black poster boards. Laminate the control panel for durability, tape it to the tabletop and set a play phone nearby. Provide two chairs and your area is ready.

Ring Around the Rocket Ship

(Tune: Ring Around the Rosie)

Ring around the rocket ship.

Try to grab a star.

Stardust, stardust.

Fall where you are.

• As an activity, have the children decorate a large appliance box as a rocket ship. While singing the song toss star shapes/beanbags etc. Use paint roller to paint the boxes.

Moon Ride

Do you want to go up with me to the moon?

Let’s get in our rocket ship and blast off soon!

Faster and faster we reach to the sky.

Isn’t it fun to be able to fly’?

We’re on the moon, now all take a look.

And gently sit down and we’ll read a book.

• Read GOOD NIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown.

Bend and Stretch

Bend and stretch, reach for the stars.

There goes Jupiter, here comes Mars.

Bend and stretch, reach for the sky.

Stand on tip-e-toe, oh! So high!

Sometimes fingerplays and songs can be jumping boards for other games and activities.  

Moon Strolling

(Tune: Do Your Ears Hang Low)

I must walk slow

When I walk upon the moon.

If I jump too high

Then away I’ll fly.

I will duck under stars

And float away to Mars,

So I must walk slow.

Carol Gnojewski

Boom, Bang!

Boom, bang, boom, bang!

Rumpety, lumpety, bump!

Zoom, zam, zoom, zam!

Clippety, clappety, clump.

Rustles and bustles

And swishes and zings!

What a wonderful sight

A lightening bolt brings!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder where you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little star.

How I wonder where you are.

Star Search:  Cut stars out of yellow construction paper and hide them around the room.  Play or sing the song “Twinkle, Twinkle” and have the children begin searching for the hidden stars.  Let them continue searching as long as they hear the music.  Have them stand still each time the music stops.  Continue until all the stars have been found.

Twinkle, twinkle, yellow star,

How I wonder where you are.

                Let’s go looking here and there,

Let’s go looking everywhere.

                Twinkle, twinkle, yellow star,

                How I wonder where you are.

Jean Warren

Four Little Stars

Four little stars winking at me,

One shot off, then there were three.

Three little stars with nothing to do,

One shot off, then there were two.

Two little stars afraid of the sun,

One shot off, then there was one.

One little star, alone is no fun,

It shot off, then there were none.

Jean Warren

The Sun

Over there the sun gets up (Hold arm straight out at side and point.)

And marches all the day.  (Begin raising arm.)

At noon it stands just overhead, (hold arm straight up.)

And at night it goes away. (Move arm down across body.)

Moon, Moon

Moon, moon,

Up so high,

Big white moon

In the black, black sky.

Moon, moon,

Mighty one,

Following soon

The setting sun.

Susan M. Paprocki

Aiken Drum

There was a man lived in the moon

Lived in the moon, lived in the moon.

There was a man lived in the moon

And his name was Aiken Drum.

Refrain: And he played upon a ladle…

And his hat was made of good cream cheese…

And his coat was made of good roast beef…

And his buttons made of penny loaves…

And his breeches made of haggis bags…

And his eyes were made of pizza…

Continue describing Aiken Drum.

Trip to the Moon:  Cut out a giant moon shape from yellow poster board.  Bring it, a marker, and a suitcase to group.  Say to the children, “Let’s pretend that we are astronauts and take a trip to the moon.  (Open up the suitcase.)  We can only bring one suitcase for all of us, so each person can only take one thing.”  Have each person tell what he would take along and come up and pretend to put it in the suitcase.  As each child is putting his “thing” in the suitcase, write down what he says on the moon.  When finished, hang the moon from the ceiling.

• Share the list with parents in the next newsletter.

• Leave space next to each item so that later in the day the child who chose that item can draw a picture representing it.

If You Were a Cloud:  Pretend that the room is the sky.  Have each child think about how he would move if he were a cloud.  Ask the children, “Who wants to be a slow moving cloud that is just floating along?  Those who do start floating.”  Have other children be the wind taking deep breaths and slowly and quietly blowing the clouds around.  After a while, change clouds.  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€ÂœWho wants to be a rain cloud racing through the sky to dump water on the fields?  Those who do get read.”  Have the others be the strong winds pushing them along.  Continue in this manner with stagnant clouds and almost no wind, big billow clouds on a windy day, etc.

Run For the Sun:  Get a yellow beach ball and pretend that it is the sun.  Play this game inside or out.  Have the children stand in a group.  In an open area roll the sun across the floor.  Call on 2 children and the group says, “Run for the sun.”  The 2 children run after the sun, pick it up together, bring it back to the group, and give it to a child in the group.  That child rolls the sun and you name 2 more children as the group says, “Run for the sun”.   Continue having fun chasing the sun as it rolls through the sky.

Tracing the Stars:  Select letters students have been studying. Then, on each of three or more transparency sheets, affix star stickers in the shape of the letter. Securely tape each prepared sheet o a tabletop and then tape a blank sheet of paper over each one. Also provide several crayons without wrappers. A student chooses a crayon and repeatedly rubs the side of it over the paper until the star-studded letter is revealed.

Astronaut Shakes:  3- 8 oz. cartons of plain yogurt, 3 very ripe bananas, 1 ½ C. cold apple juice, 1 ½ cold milk, 3 Tbs. honey Combine the yogurt ad bananas in a blender and mix them until they are smooth.  Pour the mixture into a large pitcher and stir in the juice and milk.  Add a little honey to taste.  

Moon Cakes:  Cut white bread into circles and have children spread PB on one side and Jelly on the other.

Moon Sandwiches:  Apples, Peanut Butter, Raisins  Wash the apples and cut them into moon shaped wedges.  Spread each ‘moon’ with peanut butter/caramel and then add the raisin “craters” to each one.

Tasty Space Treats:  Gently press two chocolate chips (windows) top first into the side of a banana half (rocket ship). Next, place a spoonful of whipped topping on a plate. Stand the rocket ship in the fluffy smoke. Place one half of a diagonal cut strawberry Newtons cookie on each sid

Answer 2

Give each student two PAPER plates (the really cheap kind).  Show them how you're going to glue them together when they're finished to make a spaceship.  Give them crayons and let them decorate their own ships.  When they're finished, YOU glue them together (at home or after school); bring them back in the next day and put them on display.

Answer 3

You can make rockets out of paper (simalar to the way you make paper planes)

Get some space themed material and use that as a backdrop.

Another good one is paper mache planets - you blow up a balloon and put the paper mache over it. Once the paper mache is dry you can paint it and burst the balloon (you can do this with a pin as you have to leave a small opening for the tie part of the balloon) - I did this when I was 7-8 but may work for this age.

You could also have a day when they have to bring their snack and or lunch (depends on what time and how long your class is) in in a way where it could be eaten by astronauts.

Answer 4

These activities can be thrown together using very little money.

*Flying Saucer

What You Need:

Two CDs for Each Child (AOL Free CDs work great)

Glue

Cup Lid or Milk Cap

Construction Paper

Paint

Various Other Art Supplies

What You Do:

Glue the Two CDs together (so that only the shiny parts can be seen). Then paste the lid on so that it looks like the cabin of the flying saucer. Then let your children finish the design of the flying saucer anyway that they can.

You can also use cardboard pieces or cardboard pizza bottoms to make the flying saucers.

*My Spray Bottle Solar System

What You Need

Paint

Spray Bottle

Paper

Crayons/Markers

Various Other Art Supplies of Your Choice

What You Do:

Dilute white paint with water and put it in a small spray bottle. Let your children spray this mixture onto black construction Paper. This will make the paper look like space. Next show your children several pictures of the solar system. Then invite them to design their own solar system on the paper.

*My Own Constellation

What You Need:

Paper

Paint or stickers

Chalk

What You Do:

Give all of your children black paper. Let them either use paint to make stars or use star stickers. Finally they can connect the stars with paint or chalk and make their own constellation

*Hole Punch Constellation

What You Need:

Black Paper

Hole Punch

Various Other Art Supplies of Your Choice

What You Do:

After showing your children several pictures of constellation, give them a piece of black paper and a hole punch. Tell them to make holes everywhere they want a star to be in their very own constellation. You can then let them add anything else they want to the picture. To make the constellation more visible you can put a yellow piece of paper behind it or just hold it up to the light.

*Blob Aliens

What You Need:

Paper

Paint

Crayons/Markers

Various Other Art Supplies of your choosing

What You Do:

Have your children drip a few blobs of paint in the middle of a sheet of paper. Next have them fold over the paper (butterfly style). Let them use this beginning to design their own alien and surroundings.

*Telescope

What You Need:

Paper Towel Tubes

Paint

Black Tissue Paper

Various Other Art Supplies of Your Choice

What You Do:

Put two pieces of black tissue paper at the end of a paper towel tube and fasten it with a rubber band. Using a small object (pencil, pen, paperclip, etc.) punch several small holes in the tissue paper. Next let your children decorate their telescope however they see fit. When your children look through the telescope and hold it up to a light they will see stars!

*The Class Solar System

What You Need:

Styrofoam Balls

Paint

Various Other Art Supplies of Your Choice

What You Do:

Give each child a Styrofoam Ball (10 in total, 9 planets plus the sun, if you have more children then that you can let some make stars, or moons). Let them design their own planet. When everyone is done you can put the solar system together.