I am completely fascinated by all things related to space. I love reading about the space program and looking for constellations and planets in the night sky. My daughter also likes space and loves to point out the moon whenever she can. She talks to it sometimes and sings songs about the planets (Thank you Little Einsteins). Today’s book is a fun interactive board book from Smithsonian Kids and Cottage Door Press that introduces kids to the space program.

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Smithsonian Kids To the Moon! was illustrated by Olga Demidova. This colorful book is chock full of fascinating tidbits about space, and includes wheels, tabs and flaps that make it fun for kids to explore. The colorful illustrations include labels for important pieces of equipment, as well as the moon and it’s craters. Kids can move the dials, or use the tabs to expand the book beyond it’s square pages, making the rocket blast off through the top of the book, or making the capsule splash down into the ocean. These features were especially fascinating to my daughter.

In addition to providing history and background information on the space program and some of it’s missions, the book also explores other important concepts, including the phases of the moon and the differences in air and gravity when leaving Earth. All of these are told through small bits of information, making it easy for kids to digest while they explore all the images and features on the pages.

We had a lot of fun exploring this book, and bringing it to life with lots of moon themed activities.

Bring the Moon to You!

Make Your Own Rocket – Give kids a chance to send their own rocket “to the moon”! For this project, you will need:

• A balloon
• A drinking straw
• A long piece of string
• A paper rocket

I drew a simple rocket shape on a piece of paper and helped my daughter cut it out (for the extra fine motor practice).

First, attach a paper plate and a piece of string to the ceiling or a high point on a wall with masking tape. Pull the string through the straw and attach the other half of the string to the floor. Blow up the balloon and tape the rocket shape to it while holding it closed. Attach the balloon to the straw with more masking tape. Have kids count down from ten, then release the balloon so it flies along the string to the moon. My daughter had so much fun with this game. She loved counting down (another important skill), and got so excited when the rocket would “blast off”.

Playing on the Moon

Moon Dust – Fill a shallow pan or tray with flour. You want to add enough to coat the bottom, but not enough that it will spill over the edges. Remind kids that the surface of the moon is covered with dust, and tell them that your tray is full of moon dust. Have them use their fingers or a small paintbrush to draw letters, numbers or shapes into the flour. Using the book as a guide, talk about the craters of the moon and encourage kids to create their own craters in the dust. You could also have them spell their name or other words. A small shake of the pan will erase what they created so they can create something else.

My daughter had a lot of fun with this activity! She had a lot of fun creating “craters” in the moon dust with her fingers. She also really enjoyed making her shapes disappear by shaking the pan. (You will want to show them how little it needs to be shaken to erase, so you don’t end up with flour everywhere!)

Go to the Moon!

Gross Motor Moon Game– After reading the pages on life in space, encourage kids to imagine themselves up there. Start them out crouching on the ground and have them count backwards from ten. When they reach zero, have them jump straight up into the air like they are a rocket blasting off. Once they are “in space”, encourage them to float around the room as if there wasn’t any gravity.

Once they land on the moon, talk to them about how the change in gravity makes it harder to walk. Have them take exaggerated and heavy steps as they “walk on the moon”. You could also have them take turns wearing an oversized pair of shoes or boots, as this will help them to take heavier steps. I also set out paper plates around the room as craters and encouraged my daughter to jump from one to the next. You can then repeat the blastoff process backwards and have them blast off, float in space and then come back down to Earth. Having them crash land onto a pile of pillows and blankets would add even more fun! (This was probably her favorite part!)

We had a lot of fun with this game! She really liked floating around the room (she is really interested in spinning), and I had so much fun watching her take gigantic heavy steps. I think we will definitely be playing this a lot!

Phases of the Moon Sequencing – Sequencing is an important skill for kids to learn. Recognizing the order of things helps in a variety of school subjects, as well as in life situations. (Understanding the order of directions while building a shelf or crib is important. I say this out of experience). To practice sequencing, I decided to create paper plate models of the phases of the moon for my daughter to place in order. Using the phases of the moon guide in the book, I painted a paper plate to match each phase and labeled the back with the correct name. I then encouraged her to put them in order using the book to help.