Large eyes, keen hearing and soft feathers make owls excellent night hunters.
Preschoolers often find wonder and magic in the night sky. The twinkling stars, a full yellow moon and rocket ships blasting away to far-off places fill students' imaginations. Whether preschoolers know stars are really balls of gas or the moon only appears to change shape as it orbits around the Earth, let the night sky come alive in your preschool classroom.
Night Scape Pictures
Have preschoolers make night sky pictures complete with a moon and stars. Provide sheets of black construction paper for students. Set out star and moon stickers, star and moon stamps, pastel paints and brightly colored chalk for preschoolers to make starry night skies. Encourage students to draw rockets, meteors, shooting stars or astronauts floating in space. On a larger scale, give students a sheet of black butcher paper and let them work in groups to create a night sky mural with the same materials. Hang their artwork from the ceiling to give the classroom a night sky feeling.
Bats and Owls
Read books about bats, owls and other creatures that flying through the night sky, such as "I Am a Little Bat" by Marta Prims and "Little Owl" by Piers Harper. Have preschoolers work in groups to create paper mache bats and owls. Paint bats black or brown and add craft feathers to owls. Hang these figures from the ceiling so they appear to fly around the room. Invite students to make smaller bats and owls out of empty toilet paper tubes or paper bag puppets then have them put on a night sky play.
Constellations
Read a book about constellations, such as "Seeing Stars" by Dandi Mackall. Invite preschoolers to see what they would look like as a constellation. Have students lay down on a sheet of dark blue or black butcher paper. Have a second student draw stars around the person's outline with white chalk, a white crayon or star stickers. Hang constellations on a bulletin board titled "Me in the Night Sky." Encourage preschoolers to make other constellations by outlining teddy bears, dolls or other items found in the classroom.
Cookie Cutters
Gather night-themed cookie cutters, such as bats, owl, stars, moons and rocket shapes. Make a batch of salt dough and invite preschoolers to stamp out night shapes. Let the dough harden then have the students paint their own moon and stars collection. Extend the activity to have preschoolers help make a batch of sugar cookie dough. Use cookie cutters to cut out fun, nighttime cookies. Bake the cookies, allow them to cool then turn off the lights to enjoy cookies and milk with a nighttime story.
Related posts
Color paper outlines and connect with brass fasteners to make animals come to life.Simple brass fasteners are found in most office supply stores and are often used to join papers together in place...
Make your own classroom barn out of an empty appliance box for preschoolers to enjoy.Most preschoolers can quickly recognize a picture of a red barn and a group of cows in a pasture as a photo of...
Ask children to make predictions about whether certain items will sink or float.Most preschoolers would be hard-pressed to define concepts like buoyancy and density, but letting them drop a variet...
The bride and her bridesmaids typically let loose on hen night.Getting the bride all dressed up for her hen night party is half the fun of the night. A hen night, as it is called in the United Kin...
Visit a new tea room and spend the afternoon relaxing with friends.Gather your girlfriends and enjoy a memorable Minnesota night out, or plan day trips to different venues across the state. Build...
