In following Friend "Sandwich's" zest for Space learning, we built a unit all about space! And we connected it with our prior unit about winter. Winter on Earth looks cold and bare. Trees are sleeping and their leaves have fallen, sometimes it snows, and we have to wear extra clothes to keep warm. Winter in space looks like Earth tilting, or leaning, away from the Sun's warmth.
We have worked in our Explore table (pictured above) to learn names of planets, "catch stars," and taking samples of space rocks with "rovers."
We built, and rebuilt, our own rovers. Their job is to take pictures, rock samples, and other information while exploring the moon or Mars. We read about rovers in a book, and then used our imaginations to take ours on space expeditions.
At the Alone Table, we used stars to make pictures, or constellations. We also had a Galaxy bottle to shake up and watch the shooting stars.
This bottle is 1/2 mineral oil, purple and blue glitter, and 1/2 water with blue and red dye. Shake it up and watch the magic happen!
Space is art-mazing! We used foil, star stickers, and glue to make these space pictures. Our dialogue went beyond the practical process of the art (peeling stickers, squeezing glue, ripping or crunching foil): we discussed nebulae where stars are born, asteroids "the space rocks," and constellations.
Astronomy is such a vast topic, and there is so much to do with preschoolers on the subject! Winter is a perfect time to study space.
