Here’s our unit studies shelf with many of our Astronomy materials.
This is our Solar System basket. I paper mache’d the foam planets from a kit in order to make them more durable. The booklet has a great song entitled “The Family of the Sun”. I used a product called sculptamold on this styrofoam kit.
3-Part Cards. These were made using images I found in Google.
If you’re looking for a gorgeous downloadable set, try this one from Welcome to Mommyhood. (If you are a member of the Hands-on Kids Activities Club, please log in and see if you already have access to this.)
I created this Out in Space Roll the Dice Game. This is available as a free subscriber download in the Resource Library here.
I created this work where the children Find the Constellations on the Star Map, then trace with a red washable marker. Wipe off when they’re ready to put the work away. They can make their own constellation on the blank card. This is available as a free subscriber download in the Resource Library here.
Phases of the moon cutting and gluing
This is a simple “I Have, Who Has” card game for practicing vocabulary. It is available as a free subscriber download in the Resource Library here.
Here’s a fun sewing work. The children lace a silver/white ribbon around a black paper plate, then decorate it with a galaxy design. They draw a spiral with the glue, then sprinkle artificial snow. You can also use glitter (if you’re brave enough!)
The Universe nesting boxes
“My school is in the town of Cary, which is in the State of North Carolina, which is in the country of the United States, which is on the continent of North America, which is on the planet Earth, which is in the Solar System, which is in the Milky Way galaxy… which is in the Universe!” These boxes are from the Container Store but you may be able to find a cheaper set at your local craft supply store.
There’s also a Space Preschool Pack in the Trillium Montessori shop. It includes a set of simple activities for you to add around the classroom:
1. Sort by Color: Use these cards to sort by color. The 3 primary and 3 secondary colors are used. Includes color word cards, color and blackline printing options, and two blackline emergent reader booklets.
2. Sort by Size: Sort Big/Large, Medium, Small/Little. Labels are included.
3. The Question Game: This is a great oral language development activity. Children use inferencing skills to determine the item based on clues.
4. Following Directions: This is another great activity for early oral language development. Children have to follow a sequence of simple directions. Three difficulty levels are included: 1-step, 2-step, and 3-step directions.
5. Shadow Matching: Add this to your picture matching shelf. Match a picture to its shadow.
6. Categories: Sort photographs into the appropriate categories.
7. Prepositions Game:Use these cards to learn about positional words like above, below, beside, on, behind, in front of.
8. Cutting Exercise: A few different difficulty levels of scissor cutting exercises are included: Beginner, cutting straight lines, cutting wavy lines, cutting zigzags and cutting 90 degree corners.
9. 0-10 Number Cards: Use these number cards for a variety of activities to practice Numbers 0-10. Blank cards are also included if you would like to add additional numbers (this is a great option if you want to use these as calendar cards.)
10. Number Clip Cards: Number clip cards are another fun way to practice numbers 0-10. Count the pictures on the card and clip the correct number with a clothespin.
More Resources for a Space and Astronomy Unit
Which is Different? from 2 Teaching Mommies
Astronomy 3 Part Cards from Montessori Printshop
Silhouette Matching from 2 Teaching Mommies
Patterns from 2 Teaching Mommies
Linked to these great blogs.
Seemi holds a Master's degree in education, and an AMS Early Childhood credential. She has twenty years of experience in Montessori as a teacher, school administrator, and school owner. Seemi is the founder of TrilliumMontessori.org.