A is for Astronaut

We recently moved and have been settling into our new life, so blogging and crafting with the children has definitely taken a back seat for awhile. But, I plan to be making a super-duper effort to get back into the swing of things here on the blog and of course with the kiddos. Going to join me?

My little one is now 5 years old (oops, I mean 5-and-a-half... he constantly reminds me!) and in his Grade R/Reception year at school. Here in South Africa our school year starts in January, so his first school term has just ended and we have a wonderful 2 week break coming up.  He has been very busy with a new letter of the alphabet every week at school and to consolidate what he's been up to in class, I want to do some extra alphabet activities at home. I plan on sharing these with you, as we tackle different letters of the alphabet. 

To start off ... a is for astronaut.

An easy alphabet craft inspired by one I saw at totally tots. Little One blasts off to the Moon :).

We chatted about that very first landing on the moon and looked at some pictures on the internet. The paper we used was black mat paper from an old photo album. It was perfect for drawing on with chalk. The chalk led us outside and Little One continued writing on the paving. An easy fun way to practice letters.

Next project. Puffy paint. I have wanted to try this for ages, so this idea from Allison at  No time for Flash Cards was perfect. 

No lies, this was messy! 

The Recipe:

125ml/half-a-cup of white glue

375ml/one-and-a-half cups of shaving cream

A few drops of acrylic black paint

Mix it all together.

I cut open a cereal box (like Allison suggested) and Little One had great fun spreading this all over the cardboard. I was really surprised that he enjoyed the texture of it so much.

We made the moon craters with a bottle top. Go over these a few times while the paint is drying to get a nice effect. We left it to dry overnight before playing on the surface the next day.

Another very easy and fun astronaut craft is to make toilet roll astronauts. Cut and glue some white paper to a toilet roll and draw some astronauts (and aliens if that takes your fancy) . Both my boys enjoyed this activity.

Don't you love the vintage spaceman? (top picture) He is from my husband's childhood. :)

For more space ideas, check out my Pinterest Outer Space page.

Till next time.   

PS. Have shared this at The Weekly Kids Co-Op Party.