Welcome to the classroom! We love to play, learn, create and sing together in the classroom, and we’d like to encourage our classroom friends to keep learning and playing at home once Caitie’s Classroom is over. We’ve put together activities and resources so the playing, learning, creating and singing doesn’t have to stop once Caitie says goodbye. Try these out at home or in your own classroom, and have fun!
In this episode of Caitie’s Classroom, we are exploring the magnificent night sky! The sky is filled with bright stars that make constellations, and the moon! Below are some helpful resources so you can try out some of the activities from the classroom at home, as well as some new ideas for more learning and playing with a starry night sky theme at home or in a classroom.
Popsicle Stick Stars Craft
In this episode, Caitie is making popsicle stick stars!
- See step by step instructions how to make your own.
- Once your star is finished, practice counting by counting the points of the star. This star has five points! Try using popsicle sticks to make other shapes and count their points.
- If you make more than one star you can make a beautiful star mobile to hang!
- Or you can use your stars to make different constellations. Try using your popsicle stick stars to make the constellations we explore in the classroom. Or place your stars down randomly and see if you can find any new constellations by connecting them in different ways!
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
There are lots of great Super Simple versions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to enjoy and sing along to:
You can also sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with Tobee! Caitie fell asleep during this episode of Sing Along With Tobee and Tobee tries to gently wake her up.
Shooting Stars
There are lots of shooting stars in the classroom window today! Sometimes they can be hard to find in the real night sky. Try having a shooting star hunt in your classroom or playroom! Cut out some star shapes from paper, and hide them around the room. Have your little ones find the stars, and bring them “shooting” back to make a pile. Then count them all together!
Constellations
Caitie explores three constellations in the classroom: The Great Bear, The Hare, and The Great Dog. To better see the shapes in the sky, she connects the stars on a piece of paper using a marker. You can do this too with our Exploring Constellation resource sheet!
Discovery Bin
We used dried black beans as the sensory material in our night sky discovery bin. You can create your own discovery bin at home with whatever dark sensory materials you have.
- Try hiding paper star cutouts or toy stars in the bin for your little one to find, then count how many you found.
- Try writing a letter on each star that spells your little one’s name. Once they’ve found all the stars, they can use them to spell out their name!
- Once you’ve found all the stars, try making the constellation shapes we explored in the classroom.
- Add a moon shape cutout into the discovery bin and have your little one search for it.
Star Light Star Bright
When we find a bright star in the sky, we can make a wish and hope it comes true.
- Ask your little one what they wished for and why? Tell them what you wished for, and try to make it something your little one can do. For example, tell them you wished for a big hug from someone you love, and see if it comes true.
- Talk to your little one and see if they can think of ways to make other people’s wishes come true. Wishes are usually for something nice, so talk about nice things you can do for other people that might help their wish come true.
Moon Craft
This moon craft is one of Caitie’s favorites! Here are the step by step instructions on how to make the moon craft we made in the classroom.
We hope you have fun singing, playing, learning, and creating! We love to see photos of our friends having fun in the classroom and of their wonderful creations! You can share them with us a few different ways:
