The Moon

Books

We borrowed numerous books from the library this week, and added two from our home collection as well. I think we enjoyed each of these equally. Each kid had 2-3 that they requested so frequently throughout the week, so we know these books so incredibly well now. My favorite would have to be Cindy Moo though. Adorable story-line with a fun, flowing rhyme. And did you see our Kitten's First Full Moon post from a couple of years ago? Some great activities!

Moon Craters - Science and Sensory

This idea comes from What Do We Do All Day. First I showed the kids a picture from the Internet of real moon craters. We talked about what they are and what causes them.

Then we created our own "moon" (flour, with a dusting of pepper for color) and picked up a few of our own meteoroids and asteroids (rocks) to throw at it.

The kids really enjoyed this part!

When we ran out of rocks we lifted them off gently, and observed the impact "craters" that they had created.

Then we did it again!

When they had had enough of throwing rocks at the moon, the kids dug their hands into the "moon dust" and explored its texture.

Of course, that happened...

But they had a blast in the mess!

Oreo Snack - Moon Phases

I've seen this all over Pinterest, so I'm not sure whom to credit for the brilliant idea. We only had mini Oreos in the house, but I did my best to form moons out of the minimal cream filling. 

We stuck with the basic phases, since this was Honey Pot's first introduction to their names.

She actually ate them in the middle of our conversation. This is her (not so) guilty mug. But somehow the lesson stuck with her, because she can now name all of these phases anyway! Success!

Moon Craft

This idea comes from Fantastic Fun and Learning. We used the 2-pack of Styrofoam circles from the Dollar Tree, and Honey Pot and Little M&M poked crater holes into them with the back of a paintbrush.

Then the kids painted over the circles with a mixture of white paint and flour.

While waiting for them to dry, the kids added star stickers to their night sky paper.

I, um, only had one sheet of black paper left. So Little M&M used blue. He seemed happy to do so!

Then a glob of glue for the full moon!

Fantastic! I love the texture!

Moon Rocks - Fine Motor + Math

A few of our moon books refer to the collection of moon rocks for study. So I thought up a small activity to reinforce this and add some more learning to our mini-unit. First the kids crumpled up small sheets of aluminum foil. (Major fun, actually.) This comes in a box at the Dollar Tree too. Love that store for craft supplies.

Then we used a few simple tools to scoop and grab our moon rocks for our moon rock bag.

And then the kids counted them up. Not sure where the sparkly purple balls came from, but they make nice moon rocks too!

I left this basket out throughout the week and Little M&M returned to it a couple of times. He is having trouble holding the tools the proper way (he uses two hands). But we'll pull them back out with pom poms for practice in-between units!

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The Night Sky

Theme: The Night Sky

Honey Pot is 2 years and 6 months old

Little M&M is 7 months old

Books

We borrowed a few books from the library about stars. Here’s what we got, in order of Honey Pot’s most-requested:

The Berenstain Bears and the Wishing Star by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Half a Moon and One Whole Star by Crescent Dragonwagon

Mouse, Mole and the Falling Star by A.H. Benjamin

What The Sun Sees/What The Moon Sees by Nancy Tafuri

Puddle Moon by Mari Gayatri Stein

Starry Bopper Headband

I found this cute idea from Sun Hats and Wellie Boots. I quickly put it together during Honey Pot’s nap and she wore it during our first activity of the week! She loved it!

Constellations

I took some scraps of black paper and drew three popular constellations onto them with white chalk. Then I took our star stickers and asked Honey Pot to put one onto each white dot in the constellations.

She loved doing this! When all of the stars were in place, she tried connecting the stars to form the shapes.

Then I gave her a blank piece of paper and asked her to make her own constellation. She took a few stickers and put them all near the top. Then I asked her what she wanted to call her constellation, and she said, “Love.” So that is what it was called!

Star Sensory Bottle

I wanted Little M&M to participate in this week’s theme, so I poured some star beads into a bottle and gave it to him to explore.

He loved rolling it…

Investigating it…

And shaking it around!

Even Honey Pot enjoyed shaking it up.

Star Snacks

Little M&M had a star-shaped snack…puffs! …which he has just about every day, lol.

And Honey Pot enjoyed some cheese and crackers!

Catch A Falling Star Song

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is our daily nap and bedtime song, so it seemed redundant to include that as part of this theme. Instead, I introduced Honey Pot to this popular song, and she requested it over and over again. By the end of the week she tried to sing along!

Starry Glow Bath

Finally, we partook in the phenomenon sweeping all of Pinterest…glowing baths! We placed a few on the walls and threw a few into the water for her to play with. And she loved when we turned out the lights! Sorry for the poor picture quality, but here is a glimpse!

Stars from Play Dough

We used our homemade play doughs and star cookie cutters for some hands-on play. Honey Pot enjoyed cutting the stars out, slicing them up, squishing them together, etc.

Rhymes with Star

We’ve been talking about rhymes with Honey Pot for a little while, and it seems a hit or miss as to whether or not she understands them. So I created a few sequences in Photoshop Elements, and asked her which in each strip rhymes with star. She needed a bit of help with these, but it was a great start to this new concept!

Star-Gazing

On a clear night this week, we also bundled up and took Honey Pot outside for a look at the night sky. It was so cold though, so we didn't stay out too long!


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