Shiney Planets: Add 1/4 c of corn syrup or maple syrup to every 1 c of liquid tempra paint. Cut various size circles out of stiff paper ( card stock or bristol board, little paper tends to curl when dry) Have the children paint their planets. Once dry the planets will shine.
Puffy planets: Mix shaving cream in with liquid tempra paint. Paint the circles as described above. The planets when dry will have a textured feel to them.
Paper Plate Aliens: Have the children cut and paste construction paper onto paper plates in any fashion they please to create some outrageous aliens. Continue with a discussion on where the alien is from, what it eats, how it talks, etc. This really gets the imagination going!
Styrofoam Ball Solar System Mobile: Have a variety of sizes of styrofoam balls on hand. Allow the children to choose the balls they wish and paint with liquid tempra. Once dry, the children can use pipe cleaners to wrap around the planets with rings. Insert a 2 inch piece of pipe cleaner through the top of each ball and using string or fishing line, tie one end to the pipe cleaner and the other end to a hanger or sticks. Attach all othe child's balls to one stick and they now have a solar system mobile.
Paper Mache Solar System: Have the children paper mache various sizes of balloons. Once dry, the children can paint or decorate their planets and they can all be hung from the ceiling! This is a fun and messy activity that takes several days to complete.
Since planets and stars are not visible in the day we rely on a lot of books for space science. Discuss what makes a day (Earth rotates on it's axis once in 24 hours) and what makes a year (Earth revolves around the sun once every 365 days) Make a chart to compare days and years on each planet. I will post the numbers as soon as I dig out the chart :)
For older children, discuss the seasonal changes, (the Earth's tilt on it's axis)
Gravity is also a good science topic for space. Try seeing which will fall faster when dropped from the same height, a feather or a tennis ball. Ask the children to imagine the world without gravity. How would we stop ourselves from floating away. (You'll love some of their answers!
Props are very helpful when discussing these things, whether they be the planets the kids made or balloons to represent each planet and the sun.
The one thing everyone asks to make when we are learning about space is our space dessert. It gets a little messy but it is very good!
First we start with a clear pastic cup for each child. We make up some blue Jello as directed on the package and pour some into each cup until they are 1/3 full.
While the jello is setting we begin working on our chocolate pudding. We mix up our pudding as directed on the package and put it in the fridge (in the mixing bowl) to set. Once the jello and pudding are set we add our final ingredient.
Spoon some Cool Whip into each cup, on top of the blue jello so that the cup is now 2/3 full. The cool whip should not be entirely defrosted and therefore a little stiff.
Finally spoon the chocolate pudding into the cups on top of the cool whip.
The children now have "space in a cup"
(Blue for the sky, white for the cloud and brown(black) for outer space.
The kids will beg to learn about space, just so they can make this dessert.
Enjoy!
