Craft Time: We’re Turning the Letter S Into Space!
One of the best ways I have discovered for children to learn individual letters of the alphabet is by doing crafts in the shape of that letter. An alligator mouth made from an A. Black and yellow stripes on a B-shaped bee. The letter C turned into a car. A D-shaped dinosaur. Most of the alphabet can easily be transformed into things that start with each letter.
So this week’s craft is…
S for Space!
I have done this project twice but in different ways. The kiddos enjoyed learning about the planets, the sun, stars, and asteroids. It’s fairly easy to set up and for little ones to do since it’s basically gluing pictures onto paper.
Materials
For this craft, you will need:
The letter S either drawn on black paper or colored black.
Pictures of the planets, sun, and stars. (Optional asteroids as well)
Scissors
Glue stick
It can be frustrating trying to freehand an S in a shape that’s thick enough for the planets to fit on, so I created a template that you can download here:
Option 1
There are two ways that you can do this craft. The first is to cut out the letter.
Step 1
If you did not print or draw the S on black paper, then have your child color it. Color the planets and stars as well. If you’d like, you can add some rock-shaped asteroids.
Step 2
Cut out the S, the planets, and the stars. You can either cut along the line to be more realistic, or you can cut around the shapes to make them look like stickers.
Step 3
Glue the sun onto the S. This time, we placed it at the beginning of the letter. You can also glue it in the middle to show that it’s in the center of the universe.
Step 4
Glue the planets along the line of the . For educational purposes, place them in the order they radiate out from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. If you placed the sun in the middle, then alternate the planets on either side of the sun with both Mercury and Venus being the closest.
Step 5
Glue the stars and optional asteroids around the planets. There are star shapes in the template above, but you can add some fun color and shimmer by using star stickers instead!
Option 2
The second option, which would probably work better for younger toddlers, is to draw or print the S on black paper but not cut it out. This gives your child extra space for the stars and asteroids.
Step 1
Print or trace an S on black paper. Color the planets, stars, and optional asteroids.
Step 2
Cut out the planets, stars, and asteroids. Do not cut out the S.
Step 3
Glue the sun inside the S, either in the center or at the beginning.
Step 4
Glue the planets inside the S, radiating either out or down from the sun in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. If the sun is in the middle, then alternate the planets starting with both Mercury and Venus next to the sun.
Step 5
Glue the stars and optional asteroids around the S. This gives your child more space to spread the pictures out, and it “fills up” the sky.
There is so much that children can learn from this craft! Not only will it give them something to help them remember what the letter S looks like, but they can learn about our planet, other planets, and everything that’s in outer space. You can even incorporate math with counting or sorting by shape, color, or size.
Comment below what your kiddo learned from turning the letter S into Space!
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