Space Day!

Today was such a fun day! I have been thinking about doing a space day for weeks, if not months; I LOVE themes! My dear friend Allison brought her adorable kiddos over for the festivities. Her two older kids are great friends with Elijah and her baby is just a bit younger than Yohan, so our kids blend well together. Especially because her baby is so chill and relaxed while Hansi wriggles like crazy as he roars for attention. They are some of our favorite people so it made the activities even better.

I started our "school day" by reading this book  about our solar system. Then I had the boys color the pages to make their own solar system book. Unfortuntely I couldn't find the site to print a third one for Emmy, but she seemed content to color a picture of planets, as long as she could have a staple in hers as well. I did finally find it again though and think it is a great thing to add to any space units for home schooling or just for fun. Here it is :o)
                                                
After they were done coloring, I read the chapter in this book  where Little Bear wears his space hat and pretends to go to the moon. After it was through, I asked the kids if they would like to have their own space hats like Little Bear's. They were so excited to do this project! I loved the simplicity of his hat in the book so I copied it as close as I could by just having small boxes and pipe cleaners. They chose the color pipe cleaners they wanted and where to put them in, then they decorated them with markers. So easy and fun!



We took a little break for a space lunch, which included a sun made of mac n cheese and carrots, bread stars, and a rocketship with small planets made of pineapple, celery, and more carrots. And of course, no space lunch would be complete without Tang! I can't believe people still buy the stuff and really didn't think we would find it, but apparently all kinds of people are drinking the juice of the stars cos it wasn't hard to find at all.
                                                  

After lunch I read one last book, in which Little Bear makes a rocket ship and thinks he has landed on the moon. I asked the kids if they wished they could play in a rocket. Of course the answer was a resounding yes, so we told them to put on their space hats and go downstairs...
... they were so excited to find a rocketship!


My awesome husband put this together a couple of nights ago using a bunch of boxes. I was just going to give them a big box to pretend in, but creative man that he is, my husband put in a little door to go in through, a window they can open and close, charts and buttons, and even this 3d computer, complete with keyboard. He also made little computer scanners for collecting data outside of the rocket ship. Inside there is even a flashlight is hanging down for lighting. SO cool!
                                        

                                        
                                        


       

After some play time, I served a snack, which was a jar of Moon Mud.

                                              

"is it really mud?...."
 .....

"it's chocolate pudding!" 

And because no Space Day would be complete without watching a video of space, we all watched this video of the men on the moon. I'm inspired every time I see it.

Our last activity was inspired by this awesome book. Instead of making a whole solar system, I just rolled enough balls of minty goodness for us each to paint our own planet. Honestly, they were kinda gross, but it was still fun :o) I love that over the course of the day Emmy ended up in a bee costume.

 

This is my planet. I took one little bite then threw it away.

And then after all this, my husband came home with flowers and chocolate for me. He said it was because there was too much traffic so he pulled over to the store, but I know it's because he is awesome.