Stars
Children are fascinated by stars
and you can see why! Explore stars
together and be as creative as the stars will allow!
What the bible says:Long ago, God made our wonderful world. At first, it was dark, nothing was growing, nothing was living. Then God said "Let there be light!"
Amazing lights appeared in the sky. The darkness was gone and the sea was speckled with gold. God made the sun to shine all day long. He made the moon to give soft, gentle light at night. He also made thousands and millions of stars to shine in the night sky.
Here are some ideas to help
develop the theme:
Ages 0-9months: Children love
repetition, singing the same song over and over again and everyone knows
Twinkle, twinkle little star. It’s one of the first songs babies learn, don’t
forget the actions too! Create a star mobile that catches the light as it moves
in the breeze and point to the actual stars at night...express awe and wonder...I
believe children are imaginative, creative, spiritual little people even from
the start.
Ages 9 months to 3years.
My grand daughters loved to
explore the star basket I made containing star fabric and lots of stars made
from different textures...it’s important that they have that sparkly, wow
factor as stars are like that!
Make some cardboard stars to
thread onto sparkly laces. These can be hung up to create a mobile.
In church we sing a worship song that talks about how God's hands flung stars into space
when He created the earth...have fun flinging cardboard or fabric stars into
the air either by hand or from a piece of fabric used like a play parachute.
Create a night time treasure
bottle containing blue/black ribbons and silver sequin stars (babies need the
lid sealing but as your child gets bigger let them open the bottle and explore
the contents.)
Ages 3-5years
Using cut out stars provide lots
of collage materials so your little one can decorate their own star...people
have stars named after them...that’s an idea! (also suitable for younger
children when they are ready to explore sticking.
Cut out starry sky pictures and
make a collage. Look at Van Gogh's Starry Night painting for inspiration.
Explore facts about the stars and planets if your child loves finding out.
Explore facts about the stars and planets if your child loves finding out.
I found some little pegs with stars attached used to hang up Christmas cards, I use them to peg around containers...manipulating pegs uses the same skill as holding gripping a pencil therefore it is a useful pre-writing activity!
Create a star shaped play mat out of fabric or card to contain the sensory play for babies and toddlers. You could also use the mat to fling those stars into space!
The mat could also become a star planet and by providing a selection of materials so that a star world can be created in your living room your little one could go wild with their creative imagination... invent ways to fly from earth to the star planet and perhaps there are aliens living there that could be created with some small junk and craft materials.
Stars have always been used as symbols of praise, perhaps you could create some star badges or medals that can be used as rewards for star behaviour.
Don't forget the Bethlehem star that led the Magi to the stable.
When the Christmas festivities are over, presents unwrapped, Christmas food eaten why not turn your tree into an Epiphany tree...my invention, sorry...but look forward to and then celebrate Epiphany when traditionally the Christian Church celebrates the arrival of the 3 Kings and their visit to Jesus. You could replace the Christmas decorations, or decorate a tree branch with lots of home made stars...a good opportunity to remind the children what Christmas was really all about! But don't forget to take them down on 6th January along with all the other decorations.
I love the idea of having a celebration tree at home right through the year that can be decorated at intervals by the children as a celebration of the different seasons and events throughout the year...Christmas / Epiphany/ Winter / Spring / Summer / Autumn / Easter / Mothering Sunday & Father's Day / Holidays / Birthdays / New Births. Celebrations are important, they help us focus on good times and encourages us to be thankful.
