Ingredients:
- Colored construction paper
- Safety scissors
- Markers, crayons, colored pencils
- Tape or glue
- Shiny foil, stickers, glitter for decoration
- Thread or string
- Thin dowel rods or sticks
- Pin or hole puncher
Recipe for Playful Learning:
Kids often wonder about traveling to outer space! This is a fun play activity that will send your child’s imaginations soaring while providing opportunity to learn about the planets, stars and more.
- STEP 1: Encourage your children to brainstorm about things that might be in space from stars and planets to astronauts and aliens! Use paper and pencil to make a list!
- STEP 2: Using different color sheets of paper, cut out and different shapes and sizes to represent planets, stars and any other items found in outer space (spaceships, rockets, shooting stars, comets etc).
- STEP 3: Once all the shapes are cut out, use markers and crayons to add definition to the shapes.
- STEP 4: Have your child use tape or glue to affix decorative items to make their own bright and shiny solar system.
- STEP 5: Once all the decorations are finished, take a pin or use a hole puncher to make a small hole in each paper shape.
- STEP 6: Tie a piece of thread or string through each hole. The strings should all be different lengths.
- STEP 7: Cross the dowel rods over each other and tightly tie them together so that they don’t move or slip.
- STEP 8: Tie all the space items to the towels, hanging each shape at different lengths – short, long and longer.
- STEP 9: To hang the mobile – tie a strong string around the center of the dowels and hang from a ceiling hook.
Skills to Practice: Creative Design
STEAM Focus: Science