Adventure Class' Exploration into Space

In conjunction with the March launch of the space shuttle, the Adventure classes explores space travel and our universe. Our learning came about through art, music, books, poetry, story writing, and demonstrations.

Some children built a large space vehicle wiht our climber; some built small space stations with Legos. Our art projects included alien puppets, space ships, wishing Star Jars, and walks on the moon.

We explored "moon" rocks, as well as an "unearthly" substance. The moon cookies were baked, complete with moon dust and moon rocks were a favorite snack. We pretended to be planets as we made orbits around the sun—and we never bumped into each other! We challenged gravity with our bodies and bean bags, trying to be like astronauts floating in space. But, gravity always won.

Some favorite songs were "Hush, Little Alien" and "Aiken Drum". "Mooncakes" by Frank Asch was a favorite story. The space stories we wrote ourselves were fun to dramatize.

When asked about what the astronauts do, the children responded:

Astronauts:

"go to the moon"
"left footprints and a flag on the moon"
"found space rocks"
"they float because there's no gravity"
"make snow angels on the clouds"

On the space shuttle, astronauts:

"play with Slinkies, yo-yo's and marbles"
"use Velcro on their sleeping bags"
"are strapped in to sleep"
"wash their hands in a little cubby so the drips won't float"
"wear space suits to go outside the ship. There's no air"
"play Candyland; the pieces are glued on the board so they won't float"

Lego Astronaut	Lego Space Station
Children as Planet's Orbiting the Sun	Large Space Ship built from the climber by T-Th Adventure Class
Pre-flight Check-in Station	Making Space Drawings
Ring-Around-a-Rocket-Ship Game	Working with and "Unearthly" Substance