STARLIGHT, STARBRIGHT

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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.

Books about stars.

• Firstly, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Iza Trapani is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the classic song and rhyme.

• Secondly, The Children’s Book of Virtues: The Stars in the Sky Edited by William J. Bennett.
• Our Stars by Anne Rockwell is excellent for less whimsy and more educational information.
• The poem February Twilight by Sara Teasdale from Doubleday’s Favorite Poems: Old and New is delightful and should not be overlooked!
• Escape at Bedtime from A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Lastly, Star Stories: Constellation Tales From Around the World by Anita Ganeri is excellent when searching the night sky for constellations.

Preschool mini unit study: stars.

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 by following the link.

Star Activities #1: Name activity for preschoolers.

When a child learns to spell their name their joy is exuberant. For example, 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.

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. 

Star Activities #2: Recreate constellations using nature.

This activity is excellent to do before stargazing with kiddos. Seeing and creating the shapes close up and during daylight hours will help you child find the constellations in the sky at night. My boys enjoy gathering nature items from the woods before sitting down to make Hercules, Orion, Aquila, Ursa Major, and more star constellations. The free printable for this activity is available at Create Constellations with Nature. 

The second part to this activity is to actually go outside and search for these constellations. So 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.

Star Activities #3: Bake cookies for stargazing.

I first began by giving the kiddos star themed 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 is from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

We used star shaped cookie cutters to keep it fun. We allowed the cookies to cool and I stored them overnight so we could decorate them Thursday. If you want to read more about this activity and get great book ideas check out Stargazing with Kids.

Star Activities #4: Stargazing with star cookies.

The boys were very eager to decorate cookies. I whipped up frosting while the boys colored a second star themed coloring page. 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 were actually able to find in the night sky.

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

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.

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