Solar System Fun

My middle child and her BFF across the street are enthralled with all things space. For the past couple of weeks the planets have been aligned so you could see then in the night sky with the naked eye. This was terribly exciting for my future space cadets. My daughter organized a Super Solar System sleep over so they could go out at 5:30 and see the planets in the sky and learn more about space.

They stayed up most of the night watching solar system documentaries. Please know that this is not cruel and unusual punishment from a parent, they watched hours of documentaries by their own choice. They were able to go outside at 5:30 and were a little disappointed that the lights were so bright around our house that they couldn't see much. So they woke me up at 6:30 (because they knew if they woke me up at 5:30 they would not like the version of mommy that they found) and we drove down by the river, where there are no lights to get a better look.

If you look hard you can see a dot next to the crescent moon, that is Jupiter. I was curious how they knew what dots were what. They showed me they were using two different apps.

These apps use the camera on your phone and when you shine it up at the sky, it will show you what the lights you seeing are. It will show you planets and constellations. 

After the river we stopped to get breakfast and being a homeschooling momma I couldn't let the theme die there. I pulled into the conivence store and gave them the mission to find all the snacks for the rest of the day but they had to be named with a space theme. 

I was impressed to say the least. Most are obvious but let me explain a couple of them to you. "Air Head" because if you take your helmet off in space, then you will be an air head literally. "Fig Newton" they got in honor of Sir Isaac Newton.

After the store run everyone went home and slept after getting up early or not sleeping at all sleep was needed by all.

Later that day we finished off our day with a few activities. 

Painting is the favorite thing to do in our house so that had to be on the agenda. 

This is a representation of planets in a multiple star system surrounded by blue and red giants and of course our very own sun in the middle. My child went on for about ten minutes explaining what each of these things are and how they relate size wise to the earth. 

Finally the night ended with the phases of the moon desert. We took Oreo cookies and carved out the icing to show the phases of the moon. 

I think they taught me more than I could have taught them but this was a neat way to include something that interests them with something crafty and practical ways to help her sisters and her mother who aren't as interested to remember some of the facts. 

Using technology, crafting, food art and our budding photography skills we were able to take an event that would only be available for a few minutes and turn it into a day of learning and fun. They will remember their Solar System sleepover forever. Oh just to tell you what kind of children I am raising they had about twenty minutes before their friend left so they decided to make a volcano. 

I love that they love learning and use everything at their disposal to learn with. 

I love my girls to the Moon and back :)