Things to Read and Do - Outer Space Books and Activities

Since I've spent the week talking about planets and rocket ships, I figured now is the perfect time to discuss our favorite space books and activities.

THINGS TO DO:



1. The Night Sky Iphone App - A friend told me about this app and now we can't stop using it. You simply hold your phone up to the sky at night and the app diagrams and names all the stars and planets. It's addictive. So if you see us in front of the house pointing our phone towards the moon, now you know why.



2. Planet Sticker Scenes from Oriental Trading Company - My kids love sticker scenes and these were an especially big hit. F enjoyed creating her own planet chart (rather than always looking at the ones in books). Further, the stickers contain many cosmic entities I knew nothing about - iris nebula, pleiades, chandra galaxy, etc. which lead to some fun google time. So we learn . . .

THINGS TO READ:



Do Stars Have Points?'s appeal rests in its Q&A format, where the authors respond to questions - such as How hot is the sun?; Which star is closest to Earth?; and Is there life elsewhere in the solar system? - with simple, concise answers. The book divides the questions into three categories - stars, planets, and other objects in space, so it covers a wide range of information. And each page contains beautiful illustrations, assuring that younger kids always have something fun to look at.



Another favorite, which is loved by all the kids (well, T loves at least loves the pictures, the text still alludes him somewhat). We've been enjoying several books from the Magic Schoolbus series lately as they're both informative and funny ("Could Saturn take a bath? Yes, but it might leave a ring!") with comic-book illustrations. I think most children's books attempt to make science too serious of a subject, so I appreciate the Magical School Bus's comical approach. In "Lost in the Solar System", the children lose their quirky teacher in the asteroid belt. The kids, of course, manage to rescue their teacher and return to earth, all while teaching the reader about outer space. How fun is that?



This book concentrates more on the myths and stories behind the constellations than on the "science" of the stars. It includes Greek legends, Philippine folktales, ancient Chinese stories, Native American myths, and much more. It also contains several games and projects concerning the sky, along with detailed astronomy maps. P and I enjoy the stories, as reading too much non-fiction starts to feel heavy after awhile.



This book on Saturn exists as part of a series, which we're slowly making our way through. We started with Saturn because of its "beautiful rings." Learning about Saturn's huge size and gaseous surface fascinated the kids. Plus the book contains lots of pictures, big text, and divisions by chapter, all of which help make complicated information easy to digest.
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What about everyone else? Any good book recs on outer space?

Things to Make - Milk Carton Rocketships

Since F is so curious about outer space, I thought we could make rockets (maybe something like this). But as soon as I mentioned the project to F she said "thank you, mommy, thank you. Barbie really needs a rocketship." Not exactly what I had in mind, but I went with it.

For the body of the rocketship, I wrapped old milk cartons in colored construction paper and cut a huge hole in the bottom (for Barbie to enter). I wanted to make a window, but found it difficult to cut into the milk carton. For the rocket-top, I used a bowl to trace a circle onto butcher paper. Then I cut the circle in half and taped the ends together. Each kid decorated their rocket with stickers and markers. Then they found dolls and zoomed throughout the house. A good way to spend an afternoon.

On the downside, Barbie's feet stick out the bottom. But at least I tried. Any other ideas on how to make a rocketship for Barbie?

Places to Go - Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum (Washington DC)

Lately, F's become fascinated/obsessed with outer space, so we planned a family trip to the Air and Space Museum (National Mall location). We started off in the How Things Fly exhibit, where the girls watched a demonstration on the principles of flight while T stood in line to "fly" an airplane (it's moments like this that having Dan come with us with me makes all the difference) and press random buttons. While the whole exhibit is designed for older kids (who can read), the prevalence of knobs and levers makes it fun for toddlers as well.

After learning How Things Fly we headed up to the planetarium, to watch "Cosmic Collisions", which I highly suggest, though it's pricey (we spent over $40 on tickets for the whole family to view it). I had no idea the magnetic forces on earth repel solar flares from the sun. Fascinating. T's review is slightly more basic "the ceiling lights up mommy. look!"

After the show, we spent a lot of time in the planets exhibition, where we learned that Jupiter is 2.5x as massive as all the other planets in the solar system combined, which means basically every solar system diagram I've ever seen is drastically wrong - just like we make Africa look unrealistically small on world maps, we make the other planets look ridiculously small on maps of the solar system.

After our planetary explorations, we went downstairs and let the kids loose to explore various spacecraft. On the way, we passed the gift store and we couldn't possibly say no to NASA Barbies (another $45 spent). Finally, we returned to our $22 for the day parking garage. Over $100 poorer, but so much more knowledgable, we returned from the "free museum."

I haven't been to the Air and Space museum much since we've lived in DC, but now that the kids are older I could see us going here quite a bit. All three kids loved it and seemed fascinated by everything they came across. Regarding food, there's a McDonalds on site and the American Indian Museum's wonderful Mitsitam cafe resides next door.

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!!!



I wish more Barbies like this existed. Rather than "fashionista" Barbies and "math is dumb" Barbies. Though I find it interesting that Barbie must still wear heels during space travel.