This week the Belugas continued last week’s theme of “Space”. This topic is really so broad that we were only able to scratch the surface, but we mainly focused on the sun, the planets in our solar system, and the kinds of things astronauts do on the space station. We talked a bit about why the earth is the only planet that we can live on, which means we need to take good care of it. It was a great opportunity to begin laying the foundation for our “Recycling and Taking Care of the Earth” theme, which we will be doing later in the year.
Day-to-day life as an astronaut is super interesting to children (and adults, too!). We watched just a few videos about life on the International Space Station which captivated the kids. Here are the links to two of the most popular:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bCoGC532p8 (brushing your teeth in space)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOIj7AgonHM (washing your hair in space)
We also learned a couple of cute songs about the planets in our solar system:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-qLUIj_A0 (The Solar System Song — I changed the play settings to 1.5x because the original is SUPER slow!)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrlgH97v94 (The Planet Song)
Space-themed activities were everywhere in the classroom, and even spilled over into recess! The solar system puzzle was very popular, and the students also enjoyed building rockets out of various kinds of blocks. Sensory play, such as the space bin and galaxy dough, were engaging and calming activities, as were the math activities. While playing outdoors, many of the children pretended to be astronauts blasting off into outer space!