QUICK STARTS FOR STARS
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Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” |
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Cut out star cookies using a star cookie cutter. |
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Let your child place star stickers on items. |
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Observe the stars in the sky on a clear night. |
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Let your child help you place a star on top of a Christmas Tree. |
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Count the points on a cardboard star cutout. |
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Hand out star medals when your child does a good deed. |
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Let your child trace around a cardboard star cutout. |
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Cut a cardboard star into five puzzle pieces for your child to put together. |
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Read a story about a Sea Star (starfish).
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SPONGE-PRINT STARS
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Trace around star cookie cutters on thin sponges and cut out the shapes. |
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Let your child dip the sponge shapes into white paint and press them on black paper to make star prints. |
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Have them sprinkle on salt or glitter while the paint is still wet, if you wish. |
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STAR ORNAMENTS
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Give your children star shapes cut out of poster board. |
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Invite them to tear gift wrap or magazine pictures into tiny pieces and glue them onto their stars for decorations. |
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After brushing on a final coat of glue, have them sprinkle on salt or glitter |
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Then punch a hole in the top of each star and tie on a yarn or ribbon hanger.
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STAR WANDS
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Cut out medium sized star shapes for your children from light weight cardboard. |
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Set out the star shapes along with glue and brushes. |
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Have your children brush glue all over one side of a star shape. |
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Then let them take turns placing their star shape in a box lid and sprinkle gold glitter all over it. |
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Have them shake their shape as they take it slowly out of the box lid. |
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Have children place their stars on a piece of newsprint to completely dry. |
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When the glue is dry, attach craft stick handles to the back of the stars to make star wands (or puppets). |
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Let your children use their wands as they sing star songs. |
| Variation: Tape yellow tissue-paper streamers to the backs of the star. |
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STAR RUBBINGS
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Cut small star shapes out of cardboard. |
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Tape them in a cluster on a table. |
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Set out some sheets of plain white paper and unwrapped dark blue crayons. |
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Let your children take turns placing a sheet of paper over the stars and rubbing the side of the crayon over the paper to have the stars appear. |
Extension: Have your child count the number of stars he finds on his paper.
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STARRY NIGHT MURALS
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Set out sponges cut into star shapes. |
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Place folded paper towels in shallow trays and pour on small amounts of yellow tempera paint. |
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Give each of your children a sheet of dark blue construction paper. |
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Let your children press the star sponges into the paint and then press onto their papers to make star prints. |
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Hang the papers together on the wall to make a starry night mural. |
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STAR COUNTER
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Cut an extra-large star shape out of heavy paper. |
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With your children, count the number of points on the star and label the shape with the numeral 5. |
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Then have them work together to glue or tape sets of five small items, such as cotton balls, paper clips, pompoms, rubber bands, or stickers, onto the star. |
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STAR SORT
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Cut four different sizes of star shapes out of three different colors of poster board. |
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Mix up the stars and place them on a table. |
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Have your children take turns sorting them by size and then by color. |
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STAR POSITIONS
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Cut out a moon shape and several star shapes out of yellow felt. |
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Place the moon shape on a felt board. |
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Call up a child and give him a felt star. |
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Ask the child to place the star in a particular place on the felt board, such as; above the moon, next to the moon, under the moon, or between the moon and another star. |
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Continue calling up children until you have all the stars on the felt board.
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FOUR LITTLE SEA STARS
Here is a math rhyme to help your children learn about subtraction.
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Cut four sea star shapes out of orange felt. |
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Cut several rock shapes out of gray felt. |
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Place the rock shapes on a half blue and half tan felt board and arrange the sea stars on the rocks. |
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Let your children help you remove the sea stars one at a time as you recite the following counting rhyme.
Four little sea stars sitting by the sea,
One went swimming, that left three.
Three little sea stars with nothing to do,
One went swimming, that left two.
Two little sea stars sitting in the sun,
One went swimming, that left one.
One little sea star now all alone,
She decided to swim back home.
No little sea stars sitting on the beach,
They’ll come again, when the water retreats.
Jean Warren |
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BODY STARS
You need five children for this activity. |
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Have children sit facing each other in a circle. |
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Have them extend their legs in a V shape and touch the foot of the child on each side of them. |
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Stand over them and take a photograph of the star shape they have created.
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DRAMATIC PLAY WITH STARS
Be sure to include extra star-shaped items in your dramatic play and dress-up areas
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Star cookie cutters |
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Plates with stars on them |
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Star table cloths or napkins |
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Star shaped sunglasses |
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Clothing with stars on them |
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WISH ON A STAR
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Make a sparkly star shape for each of your children. |
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Put all the stars in a bag and have the children sit in a circle. |
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Let one child take a star from the bag while everyone recites the rhyme below. |
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Then ask the child to make a wish on his or her star. |
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Continue until everyone has had a turn.
Starlight, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have this wish, I wish tonight.
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STAR WISHES
Here is another wishing activity involving stars.
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Let your children use their star wishing wands to grant one another’s wishes. |
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Have children sit in a circle. |
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Ask two children to stand together in the middle of the circle. |
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Have one child make a wish, using a complete sentence. (Such as; I wish I had a new toy – or I wish I was a kangaroo). |
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Then have another child wave his wishing wand over the wish maker’s head while everyone recites the rhyme below. |
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Repeat until everyone has had a turn.
Abbra cadabra,
Hoop-de-do,
May your wish
Some day come true.
Jean Warren |
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STAR FINGER PUPPETS
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Give your children star stickers to attach to their fingertips for puppets. |
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Have children hold up one finger after the other as you recite the following rhyme.
One little star came out tonight,
It twinkled and twinkled with all of it’s might.
Two little stars came out tonight,
They twinkled and twinkled with all of their might.
Continue – with three, four and then five little stars.
End with the children all holding up their hands and wiggling them.
Thousands of stars came out tonight,
Twinkling, and twinkling a beautiful sight!
Jean Warren
Additional Activities: Have children wiggle their fingers as they sing star songs, such as; “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” or “Stars Are Twinkling”. Or encourage the children to make up stories for their star puppets to tell one another.
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STAR RHYMES
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Have your children help you make up a list of words that rhyme with the word star. |
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Such as; bar, car, far, jar, and tar. |
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WRITING STARS
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Make large dot-to-dot stars for your children to complete. |
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Have your children stamp stars on paper flag shapes. |
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Let your children cut playdough into stars using star-shaped cookie cutters.
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CREATIVE CONSTELLATIONS
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Display and discuss pictures of simple constellations, such as the Big Dipper. |
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Give each of your children a piece of black paper and several star stickers. |
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Invite them to invent their own constellations by arranging their stars on their papers any way they wish and then joining the stars with a white crayon. |
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Encourage your children to make up names for their constellations. |
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STAR SCOPE
Make this pretend star scope for your children to look through in the daytime.
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Wrap a piece of black construction paper around the end of paper towel tube. |
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Secure the paper with a rubber band. |
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Use a straight pin to poke holes in the paper. |
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Let your children take turns pointing the end of the scope towards a bright light and looking through it to see the “stars”. |
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CHEESE STARS
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Use a miniature cookie cutter to cut stars out of cheese slices. |
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Serve the cheese stars on wheat crackers. |
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Or let your children arrange them with dabs of mayonnaise on pieces of wheat bread to create “starry skies”. |
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SNACKTIME PLACEMATS
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Let your children decorate large star shapes to use as placemats for their star snacks.
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STAR SNACK IDEAS
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Stars in apples cut horizontally |
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Star fruit |
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Gelatin poured into star-shaped molds. |
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Star-shaped cookies |
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Graham crackers with icing stars |
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TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
Tune: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are?
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are?
Traditional
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STARS ARE TWINKLING
Tune: “London Bridges Falling Down”
Stars are twinkling in the sky,
In the sky, in the sky.
Stars are twinkling in the sky,
Way up high.
We can see them twinkling bright,
Twinkling bright, twinkling bright.
We can see them twinkling bright
All through the night.
Elizabeth Scofield
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STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight.
Wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.
Traditional
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I’M A LITTLE STAR
Tune: “I’m A Little Teapot”
I’m a little star with sides galore.
I have ten and not one more.
They come from my center as you can see
With five points –all around me!
Jean Warren
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I LOVE STARS
Tune: “Three Blind Mice”
I love stars. I love stars.
Near or far, near or far.
I love stars in the apple I eat.
I love stars that are out of reach.
I love stars in flowers so sweet.
I love stars.
Jean Warren
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ABBRA CADABRA
Abbra cadabra,
Hoop-de-do,
May your wish
Some day come true.
Jean Warren
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FOUR LITTLE SEA STARS
Four little sea stars sitting by the sea,
One went swimming, that left three.
Three little sea stars with nothing to do,
One went swimming, that left two.
Two little sea stars sitting in the sun,
One went swimming, that left one.
One little sea star now all alone,
She decided to swim back home.
No little sea stars sitting on the beach,
They’ll come again, when the waters retreat!
Jean Warren
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