Ss is for Star

— November 29, 2024

The night sky is beautiful to behold, especially with a child. A child’s sense of wonder and their imagination are infectious. It causes one feels like a kid again themselves. This week is a favorite of mine because it’s full of play based learning activities all themed around the twinkling stars in the sky.

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Ss is for Star: star activities, books, printables, and more

All the activities highlighted here have complete instructions at Ss is for Star. Included in the week of lessons are book suggestions, coloring pages, and more. Check it out at the button below. 

A sample preschool schedule for a week of star activities.

Monday highlight: Name activity for preschoolers.

When a child learns to spell their name their joy is exuberant. Every time one of my boys has come to me with the desire to learn to spell their name or write it I am eager to assist them. Today’s activity will introduce them to how their name looks on paper if they haven’t seen it before. If they have or have practiced writing their name then this activity is excellent to reinforce the spelling. Also, the order of the letters, shape of the letters, and practicing fine motor skills are all teachable moments.

I am getting ahead of myself. We did not complete the star sticker name activity until after lunch. In the morning, we do our morning basket. Morning basket is filled with star themed books and additional books for my 5 year old. I always begin with the suggestions from Ss is for Star books because my 3 year old will lose interest if I begin with big brother’s books. 

The two books I read today were Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Iza Trapani and The Children’s Book of Virtues: The Stars in the Sky Edited by William J. Bennett. 

Introduce the letter S with a wall display printable.

After the morning basket it was time to introduce the letter of the week, S. I do this with a wall display printable that is available here. My eldest son used a caterpillar themed display and my middle son is using a train theme. Also, available is a squirrel with acorns. 

My 3 year old, Mick, colors and traces the letters on the boxcar. This includes uppercase and lowercase letter S. Once complete, he hangs it on the wall, continuing to lengthen his train. We finish this part with the alphabet song. 

After big brother’s lessons, time to play outside, and lunch we were able to do the sticker activity. My children love making their name come to life with pretty star stickers and I think yours will too. I like to finish the day by going outside and watching the stars come out as the sun goes down. I’ll point out patterns in the stars since tomorrow’s activity will use them. 

Tuesday highlight: Recreate constellations using nature.

We began the morning with the morning basket and alphabet review. Today I chose a poem and book to read. Our Stars by Anne Rockwell is excellent for less whimsy and more educational information. The poem was February Twilight poem by Sara Teasdale from Doubleday’s Favorite Poems: Old and New. 

We used the wall display for review games after morning basket. I ask Mick where a letter is and he points to it. We continue until I can tell he grows weary. Then we finish with the alphabet song.

Today we moved right into learning about constellations because the weather was excellent for time outside. The boys enjoyed gathering nature items from the woods before sitting down to make Hercules, Orion, Aquila, Ursa Major, and more constellations. The free printable for this activity is available at Ss is for Star. 

After the sun went down we ventured outside before bed. I am not great at finding constellations. However, Ursa Major and Orion’s belt are usually easy for me to see. If you struggle with finding constellations in the sky then check out the app, SkyView. It is wonderful for this week if you aren’t proficient in constellations like me.

Wednesday highlight: Bake cookies for stargazing.

The morning began normally with the morning basket. Next, we used our wooden alphabet puzzle to review the letters A-S. I do not give Mick all the letters, only ones he has learned to keep the review short and to not overwhelm him. 

After lunch we continued our star theme by making cookies. I first began by giving the kiddos star coloring pages to work on while I prepared the kitchen for all of us to be in there. Once we were all ready the boys joined me in the kitchen and we began making sugar cookies. The simple and delicious recipe I used was, _____________. 

The cookie cutters we used were star shaped. We allowed the cookies to cool and I stored them overnight so we could decorate them Thursday.

Thursday highlight: Stargazing with star cookies.

Although the boys were very eager to decorate their star cookies I required the morning basket and alphabet review to be done first. 

Once those were complete I brought out the decorating supplies. The boys colored the second coloring page while I whipped up the frosting. Then, they helped spread the frosting on the cookies. I  provided them with star shaped sprinkles to put on the frosting as well to keep them starry-eyed. 

Later, when the sun was down we went outside under the stars and laid on blankets. The boys munched on cookies and drank milk while I read the poem Escape at Bedtime from A Child’s Garden of Verses by R.L. Stevenson. We ended our reading session with Star Stories: Constellation Tales From Around the World by Anita Ganeri and specifically read stories for constellations we found in the night sky.

Afterwards, the boys enjoyed using the app to explore more of the universe. Although the universe is vast and very much still a mystery, star activities do not need to be difficult. The free version is truly excellent!

This is the last day of most weeks for our Letter of the Week activities because Fridays are reserved for Nature Group.

Creative star activities for 3-5 year old’s.

Was this week of star activities helpful to you? Let me know in the comments, share your thoughts or more star activity suggestions for others. 

If you are interested in the complete star activities, instructions, and more book suggestions then check out Ss is for Star. It’s a week’s worth of preschool lessons for homeschool. Learn more about Ss is for Star, it’s free!.

This week is a part of a 26-week curriculum Letter of the Week. It has been reimagined for all that home learning has to offer. Learning the alphabet and letter review is encouraged. The activities range from science to math to art and more. Choose what will fit your schedule and interest your child the best. There are more than simple arts and crafts activities. Letter of the Week is designed to pique your child’s curiosity and challenge them. Learn more at the button below.

A week of Ss is for Star at a glance.

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