We’ve been having so much fun with our space activities here at home; we wanted to share it with you! We’ve had some space adventures I will remember forever (pretending to be astronauts who discovered a new planet, meeting aliens, and seeing shooting stars). I just love my kids’ imaginations. And it brought out the kid-at-heart in me.
With the solar eclipse approaching next month, I thought that if we read books and did activities about space, my kids would get more excited about the eclipse. So, I developed a space theme to use as a guide for the week. The format is: Read, Make, Do, Play. Everything we have planned is listed on the FREE Space Week Printable!
If you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen some of the space week activities I’ve done with my kiddos. But, I am going to lay out everything we did here in one post.
Read on to see our Space Week fun!
16 Space Activities for Preschoolers
Here is the plan we came up with to use for space week:
>> Get the FREE Space Week Printable HERE <<
We printed it out and hung it in our activity corner. Every morning, after doing our morning calendar routine, we’d find the day of the week on the printable; and, I would read off the day’s activities. I started the day with a book. And then, I had my kiddos choose what activity to do next.
Below is what we did each day with links to the activities or an explanation of them.
Please note: some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience. It doesn’t raise the price for you. It just helps The Mama Workshop continue to make fun activities for the community. We appreciate your support.
Monday’s Space Activities
Read: How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.
Make: Shooting Star Cups.
Do: Galaxy of Stars Activity
We used a star-shaped hole punch (a regular hole punch would work and even poking a pushpin several times through the paper), black cardstock and a flashlight.
Then, we punched stars into a small square of black cardstock and took that and our flashlight into my son’s room and flicked off the lights. We turned on the flashlight and flashed it through the card onto the wall. We saw a galaxy of stars! We gazed at them for a little bit, twirled them around, made them smaller and bigger, and giggled.
An alternative activity, would be to eat dinner outside while it’s dark and look at the stars.
Play: Shooting Star with Your Shooting Star Cups (see how far they go)
We played with our Shooting Star Pom Pom Shooters (pictured above) and decided to see which stars went the farthest. See our pom pom shooter in action on Instagram.
Tuesday’s Space Activities
Read: The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers
Make: Space Helmets and UFOs.
We made both, since we had the supplies laying around. But, do what works for you and your family. I shared these on Instagram too.
For the Space Helmet, we used a paper grocery bag turned inside out. Then, I cut a square hole in the front for my son to look out of. And I drew buttons on it to look more like a helmet. He was suppose to color it. But, he was too excited to play astronauts. I made one for myself too!
For the UFO, we used a white pizza crust holder from the grocery store, a clear plastic cup, green cardstock, a green pipe cleaner, wiggly eyes, star stickers, hot glue and marker. I made a little alien and glued it to the middle of the circle. Then, I hot glued the plastic cup over it. I traced a little cup around the edges of the circle for the UFO’s lights. Then, I had my daughter stick star stickers on it and color the ship.
Do: Straw Rockets by Creating Creatives
Shelly’s rockets are called Firework Rockets; but, we called ours Space Rockets while making them. She has such an awesome step-by-step on her blog. Then, we blew the rockets into the air for a fun rocket activity.
Here is our version (don’t you love my tape job?!):
You can see it in action on Instagram!
Play: Moon-Walking Astronauts
We put our paper bag helmets on to pretend we launched into space, landed on the moon, and got out of our rocket. We moon walked around. It was so fun! We did this over and over until my son tired of it.
The Very Busy Kindergarten Classroom shared a fun song called I’m a Little Rocket (sung to the tune of I’m a Little Teapot) that we sang before we blasted off into space in our rockets.
Wednesday’s Space Activities
Read: Hello World! Solar System (or any solar system book you have; sometimes you can find Dollar Store books about the solar system)
Make: Styrofoam Planet
Materials for Styrofoam Planet (we did planet Earth):
- Styrofoam ball (we got ours in the floral section at Hobby Lobby)
- Blue acrylic paint
- Green acrylic paint
- Paint brush
- 2 cotton balls
Instructions:
Have your kiddo paint the ball blue. Let it dry. Then, have your kiddo paint green spots on the ball (for the continents). Let it dry. Stretch out 2 cotton balls and stick to the planet. They stay on because of the texture of the Styrofoam.
I took a few pictures of the steps on Instagram.
Do: Solar System Puzzle or Make a Washi Tape Space Maze
We did both of these activities. The solar system puzzle is a floor puzzle we have here at home. It is 2 foot by 3 foot puzzle! It’s by Melissa and Doug (I just adore their toys and puzzles). I love that it is labeled; and, that I can review the planet names with my kids.
For The Washi Tape Space Maze: I used black cardstock. I outlined the maze in pencil using a ruler. Then, I covered the lines with washi tape I had. Then, I printed another Space Week Printable and cut out the rocket, Saturn, star and moon to tape on the maze. Then, I used chalk to draw stars and write: Get the Rocket to Saturn.
Play: Planet Hunt
I used our Mega Blocks and hid them around the house. Then, I had my son go find them. For my daughter, I did a sensory bin using black beans, balls, and space toys for her to hunt for planets.
Thursday’s Space Activities
Watch: Planet Video (we watched: Solar System | The Dr. Binocs Show)
Make: Pom Pom Solar System
Do: Crater Activity (found on First Grade W.O.W.)
Fill a plastic bin half way with flour, sprinkle cocoa powder on top, drop rocks in it and you have craters. Use this activity to explain craters on the moon.
Play. Sun and Moon Toss
For this activity you need yellow balls, white balls and 2 bowls. If you don’t have those color balls, make it a planet toss game and use what you have. Set the bowls outside on some grass. Have your kiddos toss the balls into the bowls. You can have them try to match up the colors for a matching game! Put out various-sized bowls too. “Is it more difficult to make the ball into the smaller bowl?”
Friday’s Space Activities
Fridays are a free day. Use Friday to do any activities that were missed. We did all of our activities Monday-Thursday. So, we used Friday to repeat activities we did throughout the week and to watch the first episode of The Magic School Bus on Netflix. It’s about space!
I put together a Pinterest Board: Preschool Space Theme. So, whatever activity or craft that is listed above doesn’t work for you, you have options to choose from to substitute.
Happy Space Week! I hope you have a space-tastic, out-of-this-world time like we did!
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Please note: The Mama Workshop is not a credentialed teacher. This is simply an activity to do to supplement your child’s learning. And we will never share your information.
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