December 21 is winter solstice. The longest night of the year. If the weather is clear, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to go out after dark but before bedtime to check out the night sky and winter constellations (look for Orion!). Here are some other fun moon and star activities.

Planetarium trip

Many planetariums offer shows especially for young children. At Pacific Science Center in Seattle, they have Preschool Trip to the Moon for kids under 4. At Bellevue College, they have shows for kids 6 and up.

Sensory Activities

Mirror Painting. Let your child finger-paint on a mirror. Use blue paint (or blue and black), silver glitter paint, or shake-on glitter. The swirls of color and sparkle look like a starry night. When the mirror is covered with paint, you can use a clean finger to “write” on it.

Star Play-Dough. Make dark blue & purple playdough with glitter and star confetti mixed in.

Songs to Sing / Rhymes to Say

At Night I see the Twinkling Stars – rhyme
(see gestures here)
At night I see the twinkling stars
And a great big yellow moon!
My Mommy tucks me in at night
And sings a good-night tune.
Good night!  ZZZZZZZ. . .
WAKE UP!

We’re Flying to the Moon – rhyme
We’re flying to the moon. We’re flying to the moon.
Oh, what an adventure! We’re flying to the moon.
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 – BLAST OFF!
(lift baby into the air)

Four Little Stars – rhyme
(Use your fingers to count down)
Four little stars winking at me,
One shot off, then there were three.
Three little stars with nothing to do,
One shot off and then there were two.
Two little stars afraid of the sun,
One shot off, then there was one.
One little star, alone is no fun.
It shot off, then there was none.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star – song

Crafts to Do

Star Stickers. At any office supply or drug store, get a pack of star stickers, like a teacher would put on homework. You can let your child stick them all over black paper to make a starry sky, or make a holiday card by drawing a Christmas tree, and encouraging them to decorate it with the stars.

Tip: It’s often hard for little ones to pry up stickers. Make it easier by pulling all the background paper up from around the stickers, leaving just the stickers on the paper. (Click on that picture for a better look.)

Popsicle Stick Stars. Give your child 5 popsicle sticks to decorate with glitter glue or paint or markers. Then assemble them into a star.

Books to Read

How to Catch a Star by Jeffers.

Goodnight Moon by Brown.

Twinkle books. There are LOTS of books with the words from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and variants on that theme. Check some out!

For my full collection of theme-based “Fun with Toddlers”, click on “Fun with Toddlers series” in the right hand side bar. Or if you would like them in printable handout form to share with students, click here.

If you have a child age 3 – 7, learn about lots of hands-on activities for teaching them about the science of stars and constellations at https://inventorsoftomorrow.com/2017/02/28/stars-2/