Learning About Space and Star Spotting

Learning about space is a great way to start teaching young children about the planet that we live on and how the universe works.

The fact that we live on a tiny planet in the middle of an endless universe can be a hard concept to grasp - that’s what makes learning about space so wonderful!

The Oopsie Heroes are two characters that fly around the world and into space helping children transition out of nappies and into pants. Learning about space is a great way to start introducing the idea of potty training as your child will be led by the encouraging Oopsie Heroes.

Here are 5 ways to start learning about space from home.

1.  Go star-gazing

Wait for a clear night then wrap up warm and lay a blanket down in the garden. Use the moon as a starting point and try to find a few of the most visible constellations in the sky.

Leading up to your night under the stars, you could create a lesson around constellations.

Use an internet search to collect images of 5-10 constellations that you know you’ll be able to see from your backyard on a clear night, and help your children to plot them on a large piece of paper representing the night sky.

You might also like to get children to draw pictures of the constellation associated with their astrological sign, and maybe even watch a documentary about the night sky! 

2.  Space-themed art

Get yourself some supplies and spend a couple of hours making space-themed art with your children. Here are some ideas of things to create:

• Paper plate astronauts
• A solar system made by painting paper balls and mounting them onto cocktail sticks
• Trace glow-in-the-dark stars
• Rockets from scrap paper

3.  Get messy with Moonsand 

Moonsand is so much fun for children of all ages to play with and can be created using only 2 ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen.

Fill a container with your Moonsand and put some space-themed items inside - think rockets, UFO’s, astronauts, and model planets!

4.  Fancy dress

Why not spend the afternoon in fancy dress?

Help your little one to dress up as an astronaut or superhero and take them on a journey through space with the Oopsie Heroes!

Introducing the Oopsie Heroes through play is a great way to start getting your child excited about potty training and confident in their ability to stay dry throughout the night.

If you’re up for it, you could wear a cape too... The more the merrier!

5.  Pay attention to night and day

For younger children, space can be a completely alien (excuse the pun) concept. But something they cangrasp is the difference between night and day.

Once children have understood the difference between light and dark, night and day, they can more easily start to learn about the sun, the moon, and why they disappear all the time!

 Do your children have a keen interest in space? What other space-themed activities have you enjoyed together?