Do your children love pointing out the stars up in the sky? "Oh, there's one! Oh, look there's another."
Nevermind that some nights there may well be millions of stars your child is gazing upon! The night time sky is full of wonder. With this constellations activity, you can bring the night time sky to a hands-on level- literally(!) as you make your own constellations on a geoboard.
What are Constellations?
In simple terms, constellations are a group of stars in a recognizable pattern. In the Ancient World, knowing the constellations in the sky was not "something cool" like it is today, life depended on it! Knowing the patterns in the sky was helpful for when to plant crops, keeping track of days, learning about the seasons, and might be considered the first GPS! When out at sea, sailors would know their general location by looking for the north star! In our digital age, we may not be dependent on the knowing the constellations like our forefathers, but constellations are still fun and important to learn about.
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If your child is eager to learn more about the stars in the sky, grab a few books to read together then get ready to make your own constellations with this geoboard activity!
DIY GEOBOARD
Why did I make our own DIY geoboard?
Well, to make a long story short, I have been reading Fancy Nancy: Stellar Stargazer to my daughter at bedtime that past week and had the creative idea that it would be fun to learn the constellations...
And it needed to be on a geoboard!
And it needed to be on a geoboard!
While wondering what I could do without spending a lot of money, I came across And Next Comes L's Homemade Geoboard and it was perfect timing-- I had exactly everything I needed to make it, so in a way, it was "free", right?!
And free is way better than $$$!
DIY GEOBOARD SUPPLIES
- a wooden board- 12x12 or larger would be best
- hammer
- push pins or nails
- black paint
- ruler
First, paint the wooden board black.
Next, with a ruler make marks every inch or two across the top of the board. Continue making rows and columns of markings every inch apart in all directions.
Finally, hammer a push pin into all the markings. Alternatively, if using nails, do not hammer the nail all the way through the board!
With our homemade geoboard ready to go, I gathered a few more materials for this fun, hands-on constellations activity.
Constellations Geoboard Activity
Supplies:
- geoboard
- loom bands
- constellation cards
First, I found and printed out some Constellation Cards from Ms. Home Economist. I laminated them for durability and to possibly be re-used in the future. They are actually lacing cards, so if you laminate them they have another use!
Next, I grabbed a handful of Loom Bands
from my son's stash.Make Your Own Constellations
With printed constellation cards and loom bands, choose a constellation to build on the geoboard.
Look for any noticeable shapes.
Count how many points make up the constellation.
To recreate the constellation with loom bands, start at one point and stretch the loom band to create the next point... and so on.
Think of constellations as a giant game of connect-the-dots!
For example, the Lyra constellation we can see that it is made up of a triangle and a trapezoid shape. We first made a triangle using one loom band, and then formed a connecting trapezoid from the bottom right angle.
Continue building constellations on the geoboard.
You may find that our mistake was building too small of a geoboard!
After re-creating known constellations, have fun making your own constellations! What does it look like? What shapes does it have? Be creative and come up with a story of how your constellation came to be.
This was such a fun and creative way to teach my kids about the stars! This activity will appeal to all types of learners!
Visual learners will enjoy being able to see the form of the constellations and find the connections between the points. Add in a few books to learn various facts, and your child will be a constellation whiz!
Kinesthetic and tactile learners will appreciate being able to touch and feel as they learn!
We hope you enjoy making your own constellations on a geoboard as much as we have! This constellations geoboard activity is a great way to LEARN AND PLAY TODAY!!
More Activities to Learn About Space
If you have little learners, take a look at our SPACE Preschool Activity Plans! Great for home, daycare, or classroom full of kids! The SPACE Preschool Activity Plans are one of 20 themes available. Each activity plan set includes:
- book and song list
- detailed, easy to follow instructions
- 24 activities sorted by skill
- PERFECT for children ages 3-5
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