The Activity I have chosen to look at is ” The mouse Rocket”
We would get an introduction to the them by reading some stories, especially focusing on “Roaring Rockets” by Tony Mitton and also “Aliens love Underpants” by Clare Friedman.
Discussion on rockets , blast off, landing, space,etc .. encouraging the children to come up with as many words as possible to do with rockets .
Look at NASA launch Video.
Countdown to Launch.
We have a toy space station and some rockets in our Aistear equipment.
Children get to play in this area and explore the equipment available.
After time playing with the toys and equipment available we can then explore how we can make our own Rocket . Introduce Rocket Mouse. The children can gather in a circle as we discuss how mouse can take off or blast off from the top of the water bottle we place him on. Predict how far he might fly and what might make the blast off more powerful .
Have a selection of bottles and mice ready made for children to partner up . We can line up a launch our Rocket Mice. Find which rocket mice traveled longest.
Now have fun playing with their own rockets and Rocket Mouse.
Follow up activity, children can draw a rocket and decorate it.