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ASSIGNMENT
Choose from one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module:
- Activity Set: Stars
- Activity Set: Space and Aliens
How would you use the activity in your classroom? Post a reflective piece (150 words min) to the forum as a reply to this post. You may include digital records of the activities.
Also, please respond to at least one other participant’s post. -
The activity set I plan to teach in my classroom is Stars. I personally find the concept of millions of stars absolutely fascinating, so I look forward to exploring this further with such curious and captivated minds. I would begin the lesson by watching an episode of Peppa Pig entitled ‘Stars’ I would use this as a prompt for our learning and to elicit what the children already know about stars. I would also ask the children to draw what they believe a star looks like and set this aside. Next, we would predict how many stars are out there. I would give each group a jar and some marbles to show their prediction. We would then explore the Essero discussion sheet on stars in our groups. Having looked at this imagery, we would revisit our original predictions and drawings to make any changes. I would have a bucket of sand to show the pupils the grains sifting through my palm. Do you think there are more or less stars than grains of sand in the world? Allow for discussion. To further extend our learning, we would listen to the story ‘Our Stars’ by Anne Rockwell and the song ‘I’m a Star’ by storybots. For a home activity, the pupils would be tasked to find stars from their gardens at night. As a class, we would collect the insert tubes from toilet paper rolls to use to make star lanterns. Children could have fun making holes in these with an adult at home to resemble constellations. Finally, we would use splatter painting techniques to make a starry night painting.
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Hey Louise- I love the idea of giving the children a jar and marbles to estimate how many stars there are. I can just imagine the amazing maths chats that would happen- counting the marbles, do we need more/less, the size and shape of the stars/marbles, would the jar be full/empty, do we need more marbles, more jars? how many jars might we need?, comparing with other groups.
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Stars are such a fascinating and enchanting subject for young children. Many are introduced to them early on through familiar rhymes like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which sparks their curiosity and imagination.
To introduce the topic, I would begin by reading How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. Before we begin the story, I’d engage the children by asking some thought-provoking questions: How might someone catch a star? Why would someone want to do that? What would you do if you managed to catch a star?
After the story, we would move to what the children already know about stars. I’d ask questions like: Have you ever seen a star? What did it look like? When do you usually see stars? Do you think the sun is a star? I would then explain that stars are most visible at night and they give off light — and yes, the sun is actually a star too.
Next, we would explore the idea of just how many stars there are through an activity inspired by Lots and Lots of Stars (ESERO). Using marbles as a visual aid, I’d ask the class whether they think there are more stars than marbles, or even more stars than students in the class. We’d count the number of students and match that number with marbles in a clear container. Then, I’d fill a second container to the top with marbles and ask if they think there are more stars than those. This would lead into a discussion about the vast number of stars in the universe—so many, in fact, that scientists use computers to help count and study them.
To conclude the lesson, we would discuss the do an art activity from ‘Universe in a box’ and try drawing our own constellation.
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I agree small children have an immediate fondness for stars. How to Catch a Star is a great launching pad for learning as the fun and simplicity of the story with the deep underlying messages open up lots of opportunities for discussion. There are also the lesser obvious scientific reasonsings behind the positions of the stars, the reflections and ultimately the star fish. It might be a good way to explore what object/image etc. classifies as a celestial star in comparison to other stars we see in our environment.
The idea of exploring the vast number of stars in the universe using marbles is also very inviting for young children.
Adding the pupils’ own constellations in the art activity at the end gives wonderful ownership to their own learning and explorations.
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The marbles in a container is a very useful idea. I especially always find children really struggle with the idea of an “estimate” over knowing knowledge in the infants classes. This would help them realise we can only ever estimate certain information, as we can never know the exact number of stars in the sky.
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I love the idea of using a story as a stimulus to engage pupils interest and curiosity. The topic ‘Stars’ really lends itself so easily to cross curricular integration. I would also link in an art activity possibly based on ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh. Constellations would be great as a fine motor stimulus doing things such as connecting the constellations or cutting out stars.
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Introduction: The Planets
1. Introduce the 8 planets using flashcards or a poster.Use a catchy planet song to help remember them (Eg: “The Planet Song” on YouTube)
Ask children to repeat the names and match them to flashcards.
2. Class discussion: What’s in Space? Stars. The moon. Space is very big and quiet! Astronauts wear suits to breathe.Development :
1. Aliens! Let’s Imagine… Question: “What do you think aliens might look like?”
Show fun cartoon alien images (not scary).2. Activity: Create your own alien using playdough / clay (linked with art)
NB points to consider: “What planet is your alien from? What does it eat? How many eyes?”
Let children name their alien and decorate it.3. Create an alien passport (linked with English)
Closure:
Present their alien to the class and tell the children what planet their alien is from.
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I love how hands-on this whole lesson could be Claire especially for the littel ones who need to build up fine motor skills. There is a great book by Tom Fletcher called “There’s an Alien in my book” which my class have loved the last few years. We then extend the lesson by creating our own home for an alien.
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This lesson sounds like great fun. I love how the children are being given the opportunity to be creative and take ownership of their learning by naming and introducing their alien. Another participant recommended a book to go with this lesson and I think that’s a great idea too as it would help children come with creative ideas for their alien’s appearance.
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Hi Claire,
This sounds like a really lovely, fun, active lesson. The children would absolutely love making their own aliens out of playdough. Looking at images gives them ideas, but then they get to go and create their own. Getting the children to give them an identity and a home is a really great idea as they are bringing their alien to life.
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Hi Claire,
Your lesson really sounds like so much fun! Using flashcards and a planet song is a great way to help the children remember the names, and the alien activity is brilliant for sparking creativity. I also love how you linked it with art and English by making alien passports. It’s really cross-curricular and keeps the children engaged from start to finish. I’d definitely love to try something like this with my class. Well Done.
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I would explore the first activity with my class, I’d begin by gathering the children together and asking what they see when they look up to the sky at night. This opens up a conversation about stars – what they are, how they shine, and what they’re made of. I’d encourage the children to wonder if all stars are the same and why do they twinkle.
Next, I would introduce the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and ask the children to predict what they think the song is about. We would record and share their ideas before listening together.
For a creative follow-up, the children would be invited to make their own starry night scenes using dark paper, paints, glitter, and other materials. I also like the idea of children making their own constellation and discussing it with the class.
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Hi Louise,
I really like the sound of your lesson. The questions would definitely get the children thinking and talking. I also like how you’ve used music to support the theme. I was thinking of using Catch a Falling Star and adding some simple movement. It could work well at the start of the year when talking about hopes or wishes as part of SPHE and wellbeing.For art, I might link it to Van Gogh’s Starry Night and have the children create their own night skies using paint or pastels. I also thought of the book Laura’s Star, which ties in nicely with the idea of caring for something and using your imagination.
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The song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is such a simple yet such a clever idea and a great way to link music with your SESE lesson! I really like the creative part of your lesson and the way that you allow the children to create their own star pictures using a wide range of materials such as paint and glitter and the black card. Some other people have mentioned the Stars episode from the Peppa Pig series and I think it would be great to watch if the children would be engaged but you would know your class the best about whether they will switch off or will sit and watch the episode. ‘How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers is a great picture book that could also be used as an introduction or conclusion to the topic. Thanks Siobhan and the other suggestions that were made on the forum, I’m learning a lot!
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This is a lovely and imaginative activity that brings the topic of stars to life in a way that’s both engaging and age-appropriate. Using familiar media like Peppa Pig is a great way to introduce the concept, and I really like how you incorporate prediction, discussion, and hands-on elements like marbles, sand, and art. The mix of storytelling, music, and creative tasks offers a well-rounded learning experience, and the home extension with star lanterns adds a nice family involvement aspect. Overall, it’s a thoughtful and inspiring way to explore stars with young learners.
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What a wonderful approach! I love how you’ve blended scientific facts with storytelling—it’s such an effective way to engage the children. The idea of using star journals and constellation stories really stood out to me. It’s a beautiful way to make learning both creative and meaningful. I can imagine the excitement in your classroom as the children design their own constellations and share their stories. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Stars are such a magical topic for children. Most children are already singing and looking at stars at such a young age through the rhyme ‘Twinkle Twinkle’.
I would begin the topic by reading the book ‘How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers. Before reading I would ask the children a few questions – how does someone catch a star? Why do you think someone would catch a star? What would you do with a star if you caught it?
After reading the we would move our focus to the children’s prior knowledge of stars – have you ever seen a star, what did they look like, when do you usually see them, is the sun a star? I would then explain that we see the stars most clearly at night, and they give us light, however the sun is a star as well.
I would then move on to the activity ‘Lots and lots of stars (ESERO)’ . Using marbles as a stimulus I would ask the class the class who thinks there are more stars than marbles/more stars than pupils? We would count the number of children and put an equal number of marbles in the second transparent container. I would explain that there are more stars than there are children in the class. Then I would fill the third transparent container right to the top with marbles. I would ask if the children thought that there are more stars than would fit in the third container? I would then explain that there are so many stars that we need computers to count how many there are.
I would finish the lesson with the marry the star art activity, using paint splatters with a variety of materials to represent the billions of stars in the universe.
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What a lovely, well-structured lesson! I really like how you’ve linked a familiar story like How to Catch a Star with scientific exploration—it’s such a great way to capture children’s imagination before introducing new concepts. The marble activity is a brilliant hands-on visual for showing just how many stars there are, and it’s pitched perfectly for younger learners. Finishing with the “marry the star” art activity ties the whole lesson together beautifully and gives the children a creative way to represent what they’ve learned.
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I would love to do a lesson on stars.
I would bring in a jar of sand and begin a discussion regarding how many grains of sand could possibly be in the jar.
We would discuss the vastness of space and the multitude of stars in the sky.
Development: the children would research constellations on Britannica schools and recreate a constellation of choice.
I would also integrate it with geography and history discovering how people used stars for navigational purposes. We would look into mythology throughout the world based on stars.
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I teach senior infants, to teach them about the topic of “stars” I would use a playful approach. I’d begin with a read aloud like this one https://youtu.be/gDnWzKGKDrg?si=nVdCAfIIMCnMaJxw. We’d the song like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” as they all know it so it would help them build a connection. These ideas integrate English and music with our science lesson.
I would have glow in the dark star stickers stuck onto dark paper and mounted to the board. We would turn the lights off and i’d ask questions like, “What do you see in the sky at night?” and encourage discussion.
Then we would get creative. The children would create their own night skies using black paper and chalk. Glitter would also be provided of course! This would integrate visual arts into our science lesson. The lesson really focuses on wonder, observation, and vocabulary development, using language suited to their age and experience. -
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For a Senior Infants lesson on stars, I would begin with a short, engaging story about stars to introduce the topic. After the story, we’d move on to an art activity where students create their own starry night paintings using glitter and paint. I’d guide them in recognizing star shapes and patterns as they work. Then, we’d sing a simple song about the stars to reinforce their learning. Finally, to wrap up, I’d lead a “star hunt” around the classroom, where students search for hidden paper stars, connecting the lesson to a fun, interactive experience.
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Aisling,
would you look at some of the famous paintings that have stars? I’m thinking VanGogh here – and you might want to go back to the SpaceWeek TV arts sessions
Here is 2022 – exoplanets https://www.spaceweek.ie/events/space-art-with-bco/
2023 – Van Gogh: https://www.spaceweek.ie/events/space-art-with-bco-van-gogh/
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Hi Louise,
I really enjoyed reading the ways you’re planning to bring the topic of stars to your class. I was very impressed with the idea of bringing story bots into it, my kids absolutely love storybots. It would be a great start for me & also how you’re incorporating the visual aspect of the jar into the class also. Lots of fun opportunities!
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Lesson Warm Up: ask children questions based on the stars – Have you ever looked up at the night sky? What did you see? Do the stars always remain the same? Children will briefly share their ideas. Discussion of patterns we call constellations. Explain how people long ago imagined these patterns as animals, heroes or stories in the sky.
Use of visuals – use of projector or printed star charts (showing Orion etc) Explain that different cultures saw different shapes in the sky. Link with Irish connection – Newgrange – discuss Winter Solstice to explain how important the sky was. Also Irish connection with Irish myths (linkage to History) – The Plough – some Irish myths refer to it as “Teampaill na bhFíreán”.
I would provide children with a star map for the Irish night sky. Children will seek to find different constellations eg Orion, The Plough etc.
Children will create their own constellation. Each child will get a dark sheet of paper and will be asked to place 7 to 15 stars ion it using stickers. Join some of the stars using lines and have the children name it. They can decorate around it with planets etc.
Create a ‘My Constellation Story’ whereby the children explain the name of their constellation, explain what it represents, perhaps there is a mythical hero or animal in the story and explain how it ended up in the sky. We could create a class booklet called the ‘New Irish Star Book’ and place each child’s creation into this booklet.
As a follow on or extension exercise the children could use a sky simulator to match their constellations with real stars at night
To complete lesson children will share and reflect on what they have learned.
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Hi Claire, I agree that Shauna’s idea would be a lovely collaborative project. I was just thinking that it would also be loving to get the ikea long roll out paper and let the kids all work together on the one piece of art together to make one big piece of art that could be stuck on a display board or to the ceiling of a sensory space maybe. Then the kids could lie beneath the stars and spot the different constellations. They could all paint it black first, or use black sheets stuck together. Then they could all use golden stars, glow in the dark stars or paint to to make the stars.
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Hi Shauna, I love the idea of the children creating their own constellations. It would encourage such ‘buy in’ for them to name it, and give a background story to it. It would follow on really well from a few lessons on the constellations and the names of them. I think it would also go well with some visual arts lessons including artist’s different depictions of stars like Van Gogh’s using spiral, swirling motions for stars in Starry Night. It would be a particularly nice activity for Junior Infants and really help with their oral language development.
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Using Activity Set: Stars in My Classroom
Lesson Overview
Inspired by Teachnet.ie’s module suggestion, I’d launch with the picture book How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers to spark wonder and questioning Class Ace+5Teachnet.ie+5Teachnet.ie+5. We’d then move outdoors or use a star-chart app to identify a familiar constellation—like the Plough (Big Dipper)—promoting observational inquiry Teachnet.ie.Hands-On Star Creation
In the classroom, students design their own constellation using black card and silver foil pieces. They’ll connect them with chalk or string to reveal patterns, and name their creation, weaving in cross-disciplinary literacy writing.Digital Record of Learning
I’ll ask students to capture their constellations via tablets, then record short audio-visual reflections explaining their pattern’s inspiration, name, and story. This digital record doubles as an accessible tool for students with literacy or communication challenges.Reflection
This activity blends inquiry-based science, creative arts, and inclusive pedagogy tailored for SET learners. Starting with a storybook launch nurtures curiosity and frames the lesson in imaginative context. Investigating real night-sky patterns—whether through apps or outdoors—develops observation skills and connects classroom learning to the real world. The crafting phase encourages fine-motor development and artistic expression, critical for diverse learners I support.The use of digital recordings empowers students to document their learning in alternative formats—vital for those who find traditional writing challenging. Audio-visual reflections allow them to describe their constellation, their reasoning for its name and pattern, and link it to cultural or personal stories. This multimodal approach supports literacy, speaking skills, and self-expression.
Importantly, the sequence fosters conceptual change: from seeing stars as random lights to understanding them as cultural symbols, scientific objects, and creative inspiration. It builds scientific thinking by encouraging students to ask why and how—for example, “Why does this pattern stand out?” or “How would others see it in the sky?” Overall, this lesson supports inclusion, inquiry, and creativity in one sky-high experience.
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I love the creative activities in both Stars. I have some luminous stars at home so I would firstly bring the stars into school and hang them on the ceiling. I would block out all the light in the room as much as possible and get the children to lie on their backs and look a the stars. I would also encourage them to do this at home with their family, maybe in the winter when it gets darker earlier.
I would then ask the children to suggest how we could paint a starry sky and what colours we need to get-black background, white or yellow paint. I would explain that the biggest star of all is the Sun. The children could then use a grater or toothbrush to splash stars onto a black background.
I would then focus on constellations and check for any prior knowledge of names of constellations or if the children noticed how some stars are grouped together-this could also be done with the luminous stars. I would give them the Draw Your Own Constellation Activity which is really fun with the caption I used to be …but now I am…… I would get the children to make up different objects to go into this.
This activity could also be used on a pegboard with pegs or thumbtacks in felt.
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Camilla,
a slight caution on “I would explain that the biggest star of all is the Sun”
it appears the biggest because it is closest.
In the planetarium when I go out to schools I often hear this from children, so I tell them “my thumb is bigger than your head” – and ask them to show this by holding up their own hand and blocking out their view of another person’s head.
We then discuss if our thumbs are actually bigger, or just appear bigger – and that the Sun is like that – because it is close, it looks big. If it were further away it would look smaller. Older children sometimes appreciate this as a “Father Ted moment” – (a big cow far away, a small cow up close).
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Lesson Topic- Stars
Title: Exploring Stars
Objective: Introduce Junior and Senior Infant Children to stars and spark their curiosity about the night sky.
I would use various materials such as;
Picture books about stars
Flashcards with star images
Glow-in-the-dark stars stickers
Art supplies (glitter, colored paper, glue, scissors)
Large sheet
Children’s telescope
i would introduce the lesson by showing a picture of stars and ask children if they have seen them before.
Explain that stars are glowing balls in the sky at night.
I would Give children art supplies and ask them to create their own starry sky artwork.
Let them use their imagination to add as many stars as they want.
Share their artwork with the class.
Moving on I would show flashcards with star images and ask children to count the stars on each card.
Increase the number of stars gradually.
Reward their efforts with glow-in-the-dark star stickers.
Finally I would carry out a Stargazing Adventure with the childrten.
Create a simulated night sky using a large sheet.
Dim the lights and use a children’s telescope (if available) or project images of stars.
Point out constellations and explain their shapes using relatable examples.
Encourage children to imagine shapes in the stars.
I would Discuss what the children learned about stars.
Recap the main points of the lesson.
Encourage them to explore the night sky with their families and share their discoveries.
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For this module, I chose the Activity Set: Stars because it beautifully aligns with both science standards and students’ natural curiosity about the night sky. In the classroom, I would begin by engaging students with a hands-on activity that involves creating constellations using star stickers and black construction paper. We would explore major constellations like Orion, Ursa Major, and Cassiopeia, and I would integrate storytelling by sharing myths associated with each. This allows students to connect science with culture and creativity.
Next, we would use a star map app or planetarium software to identify constellations visible in our region. If possible, I’d schedule a night-sky observation or virtual field trip to a planetarium. To assess understanding, students could present a “Star Show” in small groups, where they teach the class about a constellation they’ve researched.
This activity set supports inquiry-based learning, enhances spatial reasoning, and fosters a sense of wonder. It’s also an excellent opportunity to integrate art, literature, and technology into science instruction.
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Hi Louise,
I really like the idea of using the clip from Peppa Pig to engage the pupils. Using a bucket of sand to support pupil understanding of the number of stars is fantastic, it gives them a visual and hands on experience to support their understating of the large quantity. Following on with a story is also a great way to keep them interested and also it is another method of exploring the topic.
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What a rich and imaginative approach to exploring stars with young learners! Your activity sequence is beautifully layered—starting with something familiar and engaging like Peppa Pig is a clever way to ease children into the concept while sparking curiosity. Asking them to draw their idea of a star first is a brilliant formative assessment strategy, and revisiting those drawings later helps reinforce how learning evolves through discovery.
Using marbles to predict the number of stars and the grain-of-sand comparison adds a lovely hands-on, conceptual element that makes the vastness of space feel tangible and awe-inspiring. The use of the ESERO discussion sheet supports deeper thinking and group collaboration, while incorporating both fiction (Our Stars) and music (Storybots) caters to different learning styles and keeps the energy high.
Your home extension and creative star lantern activity are fantastic for involving families and reinforcing learning beyond the classroom. The splatter painting finale ties it all together with creativity and joy. A wonderfully thoughtful and inspiring plan!
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Your stars lesson plan is brilliant! I really like how you blend engaging elements like Peppa Pig and Storybots with hands-on tasks to spark children’s curiosity about the universe. The marble jars and sand bucket are clever ways to illustrate the vastness of space. In my classroom, I’d use your plan to inspire excitement about stars. Starting with the Peppa Pig episode is a fantastic hook, and the Essero discussion sheet would guide group explorations perfectly. The star lanterns and splatter painting activities are wonderful for letting pupils express their learning creatively. It’s all so captivating and will surely get young astronomers eager to explore space 🚀🌌.
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I chose Activity Set: Stars because it invites young learners to explore the night sky in a magical, hands-on way. For junior infants, I would begin by reading a picture book such as How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers, to inspire wonder and spark questions. We would then look at real photographs of stars, introducing simple language like “twinkle” and “constellation.”
Our main activity would be a “Star Spotting” chart for home. Families could help children look for stars on clear nights, and the children would mark them on their chart with stickers. In class, we would compare charts and talk about how stars look different from the Moon.
For a digital element, we could use a star map app in the classroom on the interactive whiteboard, pointing out bright stars or constellations visible that month. This supports early science observation, language development, and fosters a sense of connection to the wider universe.
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In my classroom, I would use the Constellations activity from the Stars set to combine science, storytelling, and creativity. I would begin by introducing students to the night sky using simple star charts or a planisphere, helping them recognize that constellations are patterns humans have imagined in the stars. To build engagement, I would show examples of well-known constellations like Orion or the Plough, and share some myths and cultural stories behind them.
The children would then create their own constellations using black paper and star stickers. Each child could connect their stars to form a shape and invent a story to explain their constellation. We would display these in the classroom as a “class galaxy.” This activity promotes spatial reasoning, storytelling, and cultural awareness, while also grounding children in observation skills and scientific inquiry.
Reflecting on this, I see how valuable such an activity is in integrating multiple subjects—science, art, history, and literacy—into a single learning experience. It also fosters curiosity and imagination, showing children that science is not just about facts but about interpretation and creativity. In the future, I would like to extend this activity with a digital star app, allowing students to compare their imagined constellations with real ones in the night sky.
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Rachael,
in Module 4 we share the “Stellarium” software, which has multiple different cultural constellation drawings available. We find at the Observatory that visitors know of constellations if they are particularly interested in astronomy, but the majority of our visitors might know the names of one or two stars and know very little of the 88 constellations in the sky.
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Activity
Night Sky and StarsI would show them an area that I have create in our classroom tent- using the glow in the dark stars from home. What do they notice, what are they?
I would then show the children a picture of the night sky full of stars.
Ask them questions based on this hoping to elicit the words stars, moon etc.Exploring Stars- Show the picture of the sun and explain it is our closest star. Using a flash light I would sow how stars light up in the darkness, also making reference to the stars in our tent.
Ask the children to make their own stars using black card and chalk.I would show the children an image of a constellation, explain that stars form patterns in the sky called constellations and that many of these have stories linked to them.
Show 2-3 simple ones such as the Big Dipper and ask children what they notice.
I would demonstrate this game on the IWB and give children a chance to engage with it. https://pbskids.org/readyjetgo/games/sydney?End the lesson by singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
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this is such a magical and enriching learning experience! I love how you’ve woven storytelling, sensory exploration, and creativity into your lesson on stars. Starting with Peppa Pig is a brilliant way to connect with the children’s world and spark curiosity. The use of marbles and sand to visualise the vastness of the universe is both clever and tangible. The star lanterns and splatter painting are such lovely touches to bring the theme full circle. I’m sure the children in your class will be absolutely captivated. Thank you for sharing
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Activity set: stars. This is a way I would have a lesson around it
First I would show a picture of the night sky and the stars. We will have a discussion about star counting. To do this I will use the following materials: 3 transparent containers, Marbles and a discussion sheet with a starry sky image
To complete this activity, I will sit the children in a circle and show 5 marbles. I would ask them: “Are there more stars than these marbles?”
Then we will Count the marbles and place them in a container.
Then we will count the number of children and place that many marbles in a second container.
Then we will fill the third container to the top with marbles. And I will Ask: “Are there more stars than this?” I would then explain that there are more stars than grains of sand on Earth and we need computers to count them!
Further discussion questions that I would ask, would be Have you ever seen stars? When do we see them, What did they look like? Do stars give light? When do you see stars? And is the Sun a star?
Then we will make a Starry Sky using the following materials: A4 paper, Paint (various colours), Toothbrushes, Splatter painting screens, combs, or lolly sticks
Activity:
Paint the paper to match the night sky (children choose the colour).
Once dry, use toothbrushes and tools to splatter paint and create stars.
Explain that real stars come in different colours too!Finally, Show and Tell
The children will share their starry sky paintings. I will Reiterate key points that Stars give light, the Sun is a star, Stars are visible at night and that there are lots and lots of stars in the universe!
To extend this activity, we cold read a story about stars or space or Sing a star-themed song like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”.
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Louise – that is the first time I have actually seen an episode of Peppa Pig!!
https://youtu.be/Zp9x8AJAU1M?si=c6sdzovyv714Y0uE
the astronomer in me is wincing, but it could be a nice discussion of facts that the show gets ‘right-ish’ – like the shape of stars (are they really 5 pointed?), could you see a shooting star through a telescope (field of view vs how fast a shooting star goes), would you point a telescope out of a window (nope – there would be too much air movement between the warm inside and the cold outside)….
Nice to do this topic in the winter months when it is dark before 6pm and young children can actually be awake!
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I would use the activity set Space and Aliens to plan my lesson for Second Class. I would complete a KWL with the children to ascertain their previous knowledge. We would look together at the conditions on Mars and learn about the Mars Rovers and look at some of the footage taken by Perseverance. We would examine the footage, comparing and contrasting the landscape of Mars with Earth. We would talk about what it would be like to live on Mars and how a Martian would survive there and what features of Mars might influence the design of their Martian. The children would design their martians, before sharing them with the class and discussing the features that they gave to their martians and why. We would then create a Martian corner of the classroom where all of their Martians could ‘live’. This could be extended with written activities such as writing a postcard from Mars or engaging in some creative writing based on the life of the Martian they have created and what they have learned about Mars.
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What a brilliant and engaging way to explore space with Second Class! I love how you’re using a KWL chart to build on prior knowledge and spark curiosity. The integration of real footage from Mars adds a strong visual and scientific element, helping children connect what they see to their own creative ideas. Designing Martians based on Mars’ conditions is a fantastic way to blend science with art and imagination. The “Martian corner” is a lovely idea to celebrate their work and create a shared classroom experience. The extension into creative writing and postcards offers great opportunities for literacy development too.
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Hi Ciara, a fun thing to do when looking at Mars is show the kids a mix of images from Earth deserts alongside Mars images, and have them guess where the image was taken. Certain areas of Earth do share a lot of the same features Mars has and it’s quite nice to show them how the planets are so different to Earth, but still be somewhat familiar to us.
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Hi Jane
I like this idea of getting the children to guess which photos are of Earth and which are Mars. The class could be split into teams and they could have a competition. One side of the board could be marked Earth and the other Mars. The children could then guess where the photo belongs. The winners could then all get Mars bars!
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I think I would go with Activity Set 2: Space and Aliens for this because it’s the kind of topic that really grabs the kids’ attention. When you begin discussing the topic of space with a class, it is quite often one of the first questions that comes up. “Do aliens exist?” I would probably start off with a story like Aliens Love Underpants or something similar to get them laughing and thinking. Then we would chat about what they think aliens might look like or where they might live. After that, they could create their own alien using the Design a Martian ESA resource pack mentioned in the module. They could also use playdough, junk art, or just simple drawings, and we’d come up with names, powers, or a little story about them. This lesson could be done in one session or could be extended over a couple of days without the class losing interest.
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A fun lesson on stars for a senior infant class would begin with the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to capture interest. I would then read a picture book like “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers to spark imagination and curiosity. After a brief discussion about what stars are and when we see them, we would explore a simple visual using a dark cloth and small LED lights to simulate the night sky. Next I would integrate visual arts where students would create their own starry night art using black paper, white or yellow crayons, and star stickers or glitter. They could arrange stars in patterns and name their own constellations. They could then present their work to the class and describe what they created.
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David,
there’s so much maths that could link to this stars activity too. In a later module we introduce “Stellarium” which has constellation patterns as part of the display. It is quite straightforward to add the children’s own drawings into the software – so that those are the constellations that would be displayed.
I like the LEDs and dark cloth – this cold be very effective. I used to have some small chains of LEDS that were battery powered – from Flying Tiger I think.
Then a “next step” might be to look at how far away can you clearly see the pattern – which is a more complex idea that links to resolution and telescopes.
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I would base my planning around the Space and Aliens activity set. To begin, we’d complete a KWL chart together to explore what the children already know and what they’re curious about. We’d then dive into learning about conditions on Mars, focusing on the Mars Rovers—particularly Perseverance—and examine real footage captured on the planet.
Together, we’d observe and discuss the landscape, comparing it to Earth’s, and talk about what it might be like to live on Mars. This would lead us into imagining how a Martian might adapt to survive there, and how the planet’s environment could influence its appearance and characteristics.
The children would then create their own Martians, thinking carefully about the features they include and the reasons behind them. Afterward, they would present their designs to the class, explaining their ideas and choices. We would set up a dedicated “Martian corner” in the classroom where all their creations could be displayed as if they were living there.
To build on this work, we could incorporate writing activities such as composing a postcard home from Mars or developing a creative story about their Martian’s daily life—drawing from what they’ve learned about the Red Planet.
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Activity Set: Stars
I feel like children are innately intrigued by the stars in the sky. They are usually more than happy to discuss Space. The ESERO ‘Lots and lots of stars’ lesson would act as the perfect basis of a hands-on exploration of stars. I would be excited to gradually build the children’s understanding of the vast number of stars in the universe. I would probably use marbles initially, as suggested in the plan. I would then use a sand tray to further extend this idea, before sharing the fact that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on Earth.Usually, in my school, we explore the theme of Space in either September or October. I feel that it would work well to adapt this art idea to coincide with the development of the children’s fine motor skills, offering small stickers to be added to the starry sky paintings, with each sticker representing a star in the sky.
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Lesson Stars: First/ Second Class
I would begin by having a ‘Think, Pair, Share’ in groups about stars and wishing on a star. We would then create a mind map on everything we know about stars (shooting stars, twinkle twinkle little star etc) and explore each topic. We would refer back to our lessons on the planets and explore how the planets and stars relate to each other. We live in a beach community so exploring the fact that there are more stars than grain of sand on the beach would blow their minds! To finish we would read the book ‘A Zoo in the Sky’ which is about the consolations. This would allow for further exploration and discussion on the consolations and the night sky and gives a fantastic visual of how the stars line up this way.
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Emma,
one of my colleagues has a nice bit that she includes in planetarium shows – she asks if the audience know the difference between planets and stars – and then says ” you all know the song “Twinkle twinkle little planet” right….?”
when they say – it’s “star” not planet, she points out that that is one of the differences – stars twinkle and planets don’t.
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Lovely ideas Emma. I love that you linked it to your local environment through making the beach link. This would really engage the children with the topic and would provide a very real example for them to visualize the amount of stars in the sky. I have never heard of that book before- thanks for the recommendation.
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I would use the “Stars” activity set to spark curiosity about the night sky and introduce infants to simple astronomy concepts. The activity would begin by sharing a story or poem about stars to capture children’s imagination. Then, I would provide materials like glow-in-the-dark stars, star stickers, or paper cut-outs for children to create their own night sky pictures.
Children could explore making different patterns or shapes with the stars, encouraging creativity and fine motor skills. We could also talk about how stars twinkle and look different from the Sun, introducing basic scientific ideas through simple language.
Throughout, I would ask questions like, “What do you see in the sky?” or “Can you make a star shape?” to promote observation and language development.
This inquiry-based activity is successful because it blends storytelling, sensory play, and creativity, keeping young learners engaged while supporting early science and language skills.
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Using an alien-themed activity in a junior class is a fun and imaginative way to engage young learners across the curriculum. I would start with a story about friendly aliens landing in the school yard, needing help to learn about Earth. This sets the scene for activities in literacy (writing letters or drawing messages to the aliens), maths (counting alien footprints, measuring distances their spaceship travelled), and art (designing alien spaceships or creatures). In drama, children could role-play meeting the aliens or pretending to be them, encouraging language and expression. It’s a great way to introduce simple problem-solving too—e.g., “How many legs do 3 aliens have if each has 4 legs?” The alien theme naturally sparks curiosity, helping children ask questions and build vocabulary. It can also link to SPHE by discussing how we welcome people who are different from us. Overall, it makes learning playful, memorable, and cross-curricular.
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Title: Create Your Own Alien (designed for a 1st class, imo)
Links to Visual Arts, Science, Literacy. Children will design and make their own alien using different art materials.
They will learn about space and planets.
They will describe their alien using simple sentences.
Materials:
Paper, markers, crayons, glue, scissors, recycled materials (bottle caps, fabric, etc.) Intro:
Talk about space and show pictures of planets. Ask: “What do you think lives on other planets?” Discuss how aliens might look different. Activity:
Children draw or make their own alien using art materials. Encourage them to use shapes, colours, and textures. They can add features like three eyes or extra arms.Possible extension??
Children write 2-3 simple sentences about their alien, e.g., “My alien is green. It has four legs. It likes to jump.”Integration with Science:
Talk about what aliens might need to live: air, food, or light. Link to learning about Earth’s needs for life.Children share their aliens with the class. Praise creativity and speaking skills.
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we used play-dough last year to create our own aliens and the children loved it !! we extended the lesson for Aistear where the children created their own planets for their aliens to live on. We discussed things that were important for their aliens to have in their environments. Children loved it and the conversations were flowing .
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I really like this lesson and think it would suit my first class this year. There are great language/writing opportunities as you mentioned with getting the pupils to describe their aliens based on what they have created (colour, size, etc). This could be extended again with the pupils creating a short story about their alien, perhaps working in groups or whole class to write a short piece about our alien creations.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
To introduce the idea of aliens living on Mars I would begin the lesson by reading the book “Aliens Love Underpants” by Claire Freedman. This is a firm favourite in my infant classroom. I would then ask the starter question: What do you think aliens on Mars might look like?
I would then show the children the: ‘Roll and Draw an alien’ pdf from Twinkl to prompt their imagination. (https://www.twinkl.ie/resource/roll-and-draw-an-alien-activity-t-ad-1715173142) We would then do a Think Pair, Share activity.
Using playdough, the children will create their own unique Martians with arms, eyes, and other features. I would encourage the children to create a persona for their alien: “My alien loves flying and eating space rocks!”
In another lesson I would use the children’s creations to create short stop/start animations on the school ipads. This would be a great way to integrate our Oral language, Drama and Digital Literacy lessons. We would then show the finished animations on the IWB. (I would ask a senior class to buddy up with my infants to complete this activity.)
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I love your approach to introducing aliens, it’s so playful and creative! I hadn’t heard of Aliens Love Underpants before, but it sounds like a fun and engaging way to spark curiosity. Do you think it would work well with 1st Class? I’m definitely going to check it out. I also really like the Roll and Draw an Alien activity. It’s a brilliant way to prompt imaginative thinking while supporting those that find it difficult to get started when presented with just a blank white page.
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Veronica I am sure your 1st class would absolutely LOVE Aliens Love Underpants. The kids find it hilarious that teacher has to say the word ‘underpants’ and ‘knickers’. As well as the book being really fun and enjoyable, there are lots of opportunities for oral language and grammar work ( adjectives, verbs and prepositions).
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Leana, I love the “I would encourage the children to create a persona for their alien: “My alien loves flying and eating space rocks!””
I have asked children to come up with a personal name for their alien, a type of alien name and a place they come from, giving them the example:
I’m Frances, a human from Earth.
Possible answers are: Bob, a Martian from Mars etc
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This is a wonderfully imaginative and engaging activity set! Starting with “Aliens Love Underpants” is a fun and familiar way to hook young learners, sparking their creativity from the start. The use of the Twinkl “Roll and Draw an Alien” adds structure while still allowing for unique, imaginative responses. The Think, Pair, Share strategy encourages collaboration and verbal expression, while the playdough modeling adds a fantastic tactile, hands-on element. Creating a persona for their aliens deepens the learning and makes it more meaningful. Integrating digital literacy through stop/start animation is brilliant, and involving a senior class promotes peer learning and confidence. A perfect cross-curricular, playful approach to space exploration!
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For this lesson with 1st Class, I’d base our work around the Space and Aliens activity set. We’d begin by chatting about space and what we already know, or wonder about other planets, recording our thoughts in a KWL chart. Our focus would be Mars, so we’d explore images and video clips from Perseverance, observing the Martian landscape and comparing it to familiar places on Earth. The children would consider what kind of challenges living on Mars might present, and how those conditions such as the lack of oxygen or extreme temperatures could influence the life forms that might survive there.
Building on these ideas, the class would design their own Martians, thinking carefully about what features their creatures would need to adapt to Mars. They’d present their creations to their classmates, explaining the reasoning behind their designs. We’d then create a “Martian habitat” display area in the classroom where all their aliens could be showcased.
To extend the learning further, the children would use Lego Spike to design and build their own Mars rover. They could think about how the rover would navigate the surface, what features it might need to collect information, and test out its movement. This hands-on, collaborative task would lead naturally into writing activities like composing a postcard from Mars or writing a creative story from the perspective of their Martian. This would bring together STEAM and literacy in a meaningful and engaging way.
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Hi Veronica .I like your activity because it combines creativity, science, and hands-on learning—encouraging children to explore life on Mars through imaginative alien design, collaborative building with Lego Spike, and expressive storytelling, all while making space exploration exciting and meaningful.
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I would use the stars activity.
I would start by asking the class what they see when they look up at the night sky. Talk about how they see stars. What are the stars made of, how do they light up the night sky. Explaining how the stars are made up of gas. Asking questions like are all stars the same, to spark curiosity.
I would introduce the song Twinkle Twinkle and ask students what do they think the story will be about. Recording the predications.
explain to the children that they will make there own starry night scene. Children are offered different colour paper, paints etc. to create there own images. The children can then discuss their pictures with each other.
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Hi Irene, I really liked how you plan to bring in storytelling and imagination through your space activity. The use of the song Twinkle Twinkle and a story to introduce the topic is a great way to spark interest. I especially liked how you are encouraging the children to invent and describe their own planets, such a lovely way to promote creativity and oral language. I might borrow that idea and include it as a follow-up writing or drawing activity after our starry night art. Thanks for sharing your approach!
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I would use this alien activity to spark curiosity and imagination while also building important scientific skills. I would start by asking, “What might an alien look like?” I’d then encourage the children to think creatively about life on other planets and how it might differ from life on Earth. Using modelling materials, such as playdough and clay, the children can design their own 3-D aliens, considering features like the number of eyes, colour, or limbs.
Afterward, I would guide them in sorting their aliens into families based on observable characteristics. I would further ask, “Are these aliens in the same family because they both have three eyes?” to promote careful observation, classification, and early data development skills.
This hands-on approach supports working scientifically by having the children question, observe, predict, and classify. It also naturally integrates maths as they count features and compare lengths or sizes. Linking back to the trigger questions, we can discuss how animals on Earth adapt to their environments, helping them understand why their aliens might look a certain way.
This lesson is both scientific and creative and I can see so much potential for it in the senior infant classroom.
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Space and Aliens
I would use this alien activity to spark curiosity and imagination while also building important scientific skills. I would start by asking, “What might an alien look like?” I’d then encourage the children to think creatively about life on other planets and how it might differ from life on Earth. Using modelling materials, such as playdough and clay, the children can design their own 3-D aliens, considering features like the number of eyes, colour, or limbs.
Afterward, I would guide them in sorting their aliens into families based on observable characteristics. I would further ask, “Are these aliens in the same family because they both have three eyes?” to promote careful observation, classification, and early data development skills.
This hands-on approach supports working scientifically by having the children question, observe, predict, and classify. It also naturally integrates maths as they count features and compare lengths or sizes. Linking back to the trigger questions, we can discuss how animals on Earth adapt to their environments, helping them understand why their aliens might look a certain way.
This lesson is both scientific and creative and I can see so much potential for it in the senior infant classroom.
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I would choose to use the Stars activity set to pique the infants interest about space and the sky at night. I would gather and brainstorm all of the information the children have previous knowledge of. I would tie in stories about space and stars and songs such as Twinkle Twinkle. I would explore with holes in black card and shining the light through to show the different stars and constellations. I would tie in art also where the children create a night sky using a wash and cotton buds with paint to represent the stars. I would show them the various patterns and sequences in the constellations and get them to visualise and describe what they see. I would also be quite excited to try the activity where they create a 3 D version of the plough.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I would use the “Space and Aliens” activity set with my Senior Infants, focusing on the Special Life and Create an Alien activities.
Engage: To spark curiosity, I would begin with a whole-class discussion: “What makes Earth special?” I would encourage the children to share their ideas, animals, nature, family, and toys. To capture their imaginations, I would play the energetic and child-friendly space song ‘ Zoom Zoom Zoom We’re Going to The Moon‘ I believe this song will energise the class and set the mood for our space-themed inquiry.
Investigate: Each child would draw something they find special about Earth. They will act it out for the class without showing their drawing, and the students would guess what the drawing might be. This drama-based guessing game will encourage communication, creativity, and observation skills.
Next, I would introduce the concept of aliens by asking: “What do you think an alien might look like?” The children will use their imaginations to draw their own alien beings and will explain their ideas to the class. This activity will build expressive language and visual representation skills.Take the Next Step: We would then create Martian landscapes using cardboard, paint, foil, sand, and other classroom materials. The children will compare their models with real NASA images of Mars and discuss what they observe, “Which one has the tallest mountain?” or “Which looks most like Mars?” This hands-on work will support visual literacy, scientific thinking, and teamwork.
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I really like the idea of creating the Martian landscapes using cardboard, paint, foil etc. I think this is such a clever idea and sounds like so much fun. Allowing the children to then compare their models with the real NASA images of Mars is key to them moving their learning and understanding forward. Posing simple questions as suggested such as Which looks most like Mars? will encourage good discussion and can be used as an oral language activity. I do agree that this will support visual literacy, scientific thinking, and teamwork at any stage.
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A great book I use when teaching stars to infants is ‘How to catch a star’ by Oliver Jeffers. It is a simple an engaging story of a little boy who dreams of catching a star to be his friend. It is a great discussion starter and encourages the kids to think about stars, space and dreaming big.
After this module I will do ‘counting the stars’ activity using the jars of marbles. This will link very well with the story. In the book the boy wants just one star but there are millions in the sky!
I will also use ‘lots and lots of stars’ for some creative art – we will make our own starry sky and create the sky the boy looked up into-full of stars he wanted to catch. I will use dark paper and the paint splatter effect. The children may like to add their own ‘special star’ to try and catch, like the boy.
There is so much to do with this book linking literacy, numeracy and real science learning as I found this module encouraged.-
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Hi Sandra,
I really love your idea of using the jar of marbles to represent the millions of stars in the sky. It is a great visual way for the children to understand the volume of stars in our milky way, while keeping it relatable to them. It is also is an effective way to link to numeracy for infant classes – counting the number of marbles (stars) and could be used to create simple number problems – ‘if I add another star into my jar, how many will I have? what if I take 2 away?’, the possibility for these kinds of questions are endless! 🙂 thanks for sharing!
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Although I will now be working in first class next year I am excited to use an alien-themed activity with the children where they will design their own- this can be incorporated into their visual arts lesson even if it does not fit discretely with the Science lesson. As always children love creating their own characters it is a fun and imaginative way to engage them and the alien figures could be designed and then used later as mini style puppets or equivalent to use during oral language activities. As always it is great to start with a story and maybe a large visual of aliens landing in the playground . What can you teach the aliens about planet Earth? What do you think they would say to us about how we are looking after the Earth, here is an opportunity to link to Green Schools learning also. In so many ways the learning could link with English and activities using in literacy such as writing. Simple connections can be made with maths learning such as counting measuring using non- standard units. Creating spaceships in art is another idea and including different shape patterns. I think the lost of ideas is endless I am excited about how the theme can be used across all subject areas.
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I think I would use the Space and Aliens activities because it sparks imagination while introducing scientific thinking. Young children are naturally fascinated by the unknown, and the idea of aliens and distant planets provides a perfect introduction to learning about space in a playful and enjoyable way. I would begin with a story or video about an alien visiting Earth, prompting a class discussion: “What might an alien look like?” and “What would they think of our planet?” This encourages creativity and empathy while setting the stage for cross-curricular learning. Children could then design their own aliens, considering what kind of planet their alien comes from—Is it hot or cold? Does it have gravity? What do they eat? This leads to discussions about the conditions needed for life and comparisons with Earth. In art, they could create alien models using recycled materials. In literacy, they could write short stories or postcards from their alien’s perspective. In science, we’d explore planets in our solar system and what makes Earth special.
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Activity: Alien Craft
Materials Needed
-Construction paper
-Scissors
-Glue Stick
-Googly Eyes
-Markers or Crayons
-Pipe Cleaners
-Popsicle Sticks
Instructions: First, cut out various shapes from the construction paper. The children will use their imagination and create alien body parts such as circles, squares, triangles, and ovals. They can also create spaceships, planets, and other outer space objects.
Once they have their shapes ready, they will use glue sticks and glue the shapes onto a larger piece of construction paper to create their alien characters. They can mix and match different shapes to create unique aliens.
After sticking the shapes, the children will get googly eyes to add to their alien’s face. They can choose the number of eyes their alien has and stick them on using glue.
The children will use markers or crayons to draw additional details on their aliens such as mouths, noses, antennas and any other features they like.
To make the aliens even more interesting, the children will use pipe cleaners to create arms, legs, or antennas. They can twist and bend the pipe cleaners into different shapes and stick them onto their aliens.
Finally, popsicle sticks will be glues to their aliens. This will allow them to plat with their creations and make then ‘Fly’ around like real aliens.
Once the aliens are complete, encourage the children to use their imagination and come up with stories or adventures for their aliens. They can pretend the aliens are exploring outer space or visiting Earth.
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Lesson – Activity Set- Stars
Introduction
Ask the class: “What do you see when you look up at the night sky?” Children brainstorm what they can see at night time with teacher.
Show a short video of a starry sky at nighttime.
Development – Storytime
Read the story – Under the Stars by Sam Salgoski
Introduce the idea of constellations (groups of stars forming patterns).
Closure: Create Your Own Constellation (10 minutes)
Use black paper and star stickers to create a constellation.
Have students name their constellation and share with the class.-
Hi Sue,
Here is a possible video that you could use:
https://youtu.be/jMLcvgQS8D4?si=e6aNwtkrycQuIy4x
2m 17s from the Dark Sky International Organisation, called Know the Night, with a lovely poem running through it.
What happens when our stars once bright
are lost beneath the creeping light?
When sky glow drowns the Milky Way
and night’s true colors fade away.
Would we still gather friends in tow
and share our stories in moonlit glow?
Would fireflies still softly gleam
or vanish like a fading dream?
Would we still marvel as auroras dance
or hush at hoots and coyote chants?
Would we still paint the cosmic swirls
or ponder planets in distant worlds?
We need the night to dream and find
a world unbound in space and time.
We need the dark to end our day,
we need the stars to guide our way.
To gaze above to wonder why,
to lose ourselves beneath the sky.
We need the night and now we know
the night needs us to dim our glow.
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This is how I would plan a lesson around space and aliens in my Senior Infant classroom. I would use a story book about aliens probably “Aliens love Underpants” by Claire Freedman seeing the rave reviews it is getting on this forum. The first thing I would get children to do is to work with me to create a mind man using all the things and words we know about space. We would discuss what we think an alien would look like and how we would feel if we met one. We might then do a fun movement break where we would do a moonwalk or the floor is lava style activity. We would then complete an art activity where children could design their own aliens. To tie in with maths I would encourage children to use some of the 2D shapes we have been learning about when making their aliens. I would ask the children to come up to the top of the room when these were finished so they could talk about their alien and ask the other children to say what they liked about each one. As an extension activity we would do a small piece of writing the following day about our alien using a write about the picture format. I think children are fascinated by space and aliens so there is plenty you could do and lots of opportunities to integrate with other curricular areas.
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I have chosen “The Stars”, based on themes used in ESERO.
This activity could be done over a fortnight of work.
1. Introduction to stars and constellations
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Describe what stars are.
- Identify that the Sun is a star.
- Recognize that stars form patterns called constellations.
- Understand that stars are very far away.
2. Development posing questions such as:
1. What Are Stars?
2. Why Do Stars Twinkle?
3. Constellations:
Explain that stars form patterns, called constellations.
Show a few (e.g., the Big Dipper, Orion).
Tell a simple constellation myth (e.g., Orion the Hunter).
3. Activity – Make Your Own Constellation
Children create a constellation pattern and name it.
Encourage them to draw lines connecting stars.
4. Discussion
Ask:
“What is the Sun?” (A star!)
“Can we see stars in the daytime?” (No, because the Sun’s light is too bright.)
“Are stars close to us?” (No, they are very far away.)
Summarize key learning points.
Some other useful additions to the lesson could be:
- Watch a video from ESA or ESERO about stars.
- Night Sky Journal – draw the stars they see at home.
- Introduce a storybook like How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
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I really enjoyed this module- there was so many fantastic lesson ideas! The topic I am going to focus on is Space and Aliens. I really like the lesson design your own martian. I would introduce the topic by reading the story ‘Welcome to Alien School’. This story book has lovely images and so many different types of aliens. The children would design their aliens. They would then create their own aliens using marla and other materials e.g. pipe cleaners. This is a great activity as it allows for integration with maths, there is an abundance of extension activities. For example- sort the aliens by colour, sort them by the number of eyes, arms, legs etc. Discussions around appearance – is this alien tall or small? Find an alien that is smaller than this one etc. This lesson also provides opportunity to integrate with english- the chidlren could write a simple description of their aliens.
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Topic: Stars
I love the example of making the constellations with tinfoil and string I understand that this would be too advanced for infant children but in our school, we have a “Buddy System” with 6th class students and Junior Infant students so this is something they could explore together. It could be arranged that 6th class students and Junior Infant students could explore the topic of stars simultaneously and work on activities cooperatively.
To begin such an exploration on this topic for infants I would have circle time and elicit from the children their understanding of stars and nighttime. I would have visual aids to support this.
Next, I would read a story such as “How to catch a star” by Oliver Jeffers or “Zoo in the Sky – A Book of Animal Constellations” by Jacqueline Mitton.
The children could explore the imagery of stars by shining flashlight through black card with tiny holes in it to simulate twinkling stars.
The children could further explore through visual arts Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and make their own creations.
I might also suggest a visit from the Blackrock Observatory and their inflatable dome that shows planets, stars, constellations etc. A wonderful experience we explored at the Carnival of Science.
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As an Infant teacher, the activity set that I would choose is Space and Aliens. I find that the mystery of this topic always excites and engages children and this make it a great theme for Aistear/role play.
I would use the story “Alien’s Love Underpants” as a hook to get the children’s attention. Before reading the book, I would tell the children the name of the book but cover the front cover to build the suspense. I would ask the children thought provoking, open ended questions such as “what do you think aliens look like?”, “do you think they wear clothes?”, “what kind of clothes would an alien wear?”. I would then read the story to the children with a focus on the illustrations. This is a funny and detailed book and I feel that the children would be thoroughly engaged.
I would link this story to a cross-curricular Maths and art lesson by having the children create their own alien with underpants using 2D shapes. This gives the students the freedom to use their own imagination and creativity to design an alien with whatever shapes and materials they imagine an alien to look like.
As a follow up, I would read the story “Alien’s Love Dinopants” which is equally as funny and engaging as “Alien’s Love Underpants”. -
<p style=”text-align: left;”>The activity set I would choose is space and aliens. It holds endless possibilities for play and learning. I would read Aliens love underpants by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. It is a funny silly rhyming book full of fantastic images of what an Alien might look like. I would challenge the children to describe aliens or create their own alien character using descriptive language. As I work with younger children 3/4 yr olds, I would provide a template and allow them use all sorts of stickers, paper ,glue , etc to create their own image of an Alien. These could be named and displayed to show their peers and parents.</p>
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Create your own alien. Children will use their imagination to create a unique alien. At the start of the lesson we would discuss what the children might think an alien would look like. How many eyes ?arms? Legs? What colour it is? Does it have antenna? Does it have teeth?
Where would they live? Do they have a spaceship? Do they have any powers or skills?
After the discussion, give the children time to draw and colour their aliens. In small groups get them to describe their aliens.Children can dictate a sentence or teacher can have prompts to help children write independently about their characters.
Early finishers could design a planet or space ship to display their aliens. A follow up activity could be to use clay to create their aliens -
I plan to use the Stars activity set in my classroom because it links beautifully to childrens natural curiosity about the night sky. First, I would engage the class in observing the stars through images or a simple planetarium app to spark wonder. We would then explore stories and myths connected to constellations, integrating literacy and oral language. To support cross-curricular learning, I would connect the star patterns to simple maths by identifying shapes and counting points of light. Finally, I would encourage the children to create their own star maps using art materials or a digital drawing tool. This supports creativity and digital literacy while reinforcing the science behind stars. As a reflective, I would ask the children to present their star maps and explain the stories they created, supporting communication and confidence. The topic is an excellent way to develop STEM skills while keeping learning playful and child-centered.
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I plan to use the stars and aliens activities in my Early Start classroom. the song twinkle twinkle little star is a good introduction followed by a discussion on planets. I will follow this up with a drama/dance activity where we climb into our rockets and fly to different planets, as we exit our rockets we realise each planet is different and we act out how it feels. some planets are windy some bouncy others are very hot or very cold. The final planet will have an alien living on it. The children can decide if it is a friendly alien or a frightening alien.
Afterwards we can discuss and expand on the alien. What does it look like? what does it eat? who are its friends? what is the planet it lives on like?
I would follow this up with each child drawing their alien and then creating a model with play dough.
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Activity Set: Stars
For this module, I chose to implement the Activity Set: Stars in my classroom, focusing specifically on helping students understand star constellations and the life cycle of a star.
I’ll begin the lesson by projecting images of constellations and asking students what shapes or stories they could find within the stars. We can then use star maps to locate major constellations like Orion and Ursa Major, and create our own constellations using star stickers and black construction paper.
To explore the life cycle of a star, using a digital simulation will allow students to manipulate mass and temperature to see how stars evolve from nebulae to white dwarfs or supernovas.
The activity I’ve chosen from the module is the Star Lantern one. I think this would be a big hit with younger classes and a good way to finish off the lesson.
file:///Users/muinteoir/Downloads/Make%20a%20Star-Lantern.pdf
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens. I have taught a similar lesson before to my class and they really enjoyed it. A trip to Space to meet the Aliens. You could start off the lesson by asking the children what they would need to pack in their rocket to take to space with them. Have a template of a rocket and they either write the words (using new vocabulary that is pre-taught), or use printed pictures (for differentiation). They all love to take their cosy blanket and teddy and forget that food might be important too. A discussion around what the Aliens might look like could also be part of this lesson. Lots of role play options here too. You could have a table for dress up with lots of silly and funny items that they could wear to pretend to look like an alien. They could make up their own alien language and use gibberish. An extension for this lesson would then be to print off or draw an Alien. Have each child write a descriptive word about that Alien (English lesson). They could all pass around their alien pictures and have each one put a different word into their one.
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* sorry if I’ve posted this x3 times… like in module 2 I’m having issues with submitting… 🙂 *
This module has lots of resources.
I would based my lesson around the theme arts and constellations.
To begin with I would close the blinds and make the room as quiet and cosy as possible. I would also the pupils to sit on the floor for circle time and show them a quick clip from the Lion King
To spark their interest in the night sky.
https://youtu.be/q1O57ZijwPQ?feature=sharedQuestioning:
. What do you see when you look at the night sky?
2. Do you know what stars are made of?
3. Can you name a shape or picture you’ve seen in the stars?
4. Why do you think stars twinkle?
5. Have you heard of the Orion or Taruas- What do you think they look like?Discussion: I would use a learning experience chart to record their answers. This chart would be kept an used as a mindmap as the space theme lessons continued.
Activity: looking at star constellations – using the stellarium App
https://stellarium-web.orgFollowing with an hands on activity from the module on making a star lantern. Another idea instead of the flashlight might be to use the battery operated candles.
https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Make-a-Star-Lantern.pdf-
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I just spent time looking at the Stallarium app as I have never seen this before the course. This could be a great resource to use with my Infant class as it is a visually fun and an interactive explore the night sky right in the classroom. By closing the blinds and turning the lights off this could be a great opportunity to help the children visually discover stars, the Moon, and planets. They could point out shapes and bright lights they spot and its great that Stellarium also connects stories about the sky with what children can actually see.
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Lesson: Exploring Constellations and Stars with Senior Infants
This lesson introduces children to the night sky by focusing on stars and simple constellations. I would start by gathering the children in a circle and asking if they’ve ever looked up at the stars. We would talk briefly about what stars are and how people long ago connected stars to make pictures in the sky, called constellations.
To get the children engaged and help them remember, we would sing the one of classic songs“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” or “starlight Starbright”.
Next, we move to an art activity where each child creates their own constellation. I’d give them black paper and white crayons or chalk. First, we look at some simple constellation patterns like the Big Dipper or Orion shown on the Interactive Whiteboard or a projector on the ceiling if possible with the lights dimmed. Then the kids make dots to represent stars and connect them with lines to create their constellation patterns or invent their own star shapes.
I would talk about how people use constellations to tell stories or help find their way. This encourages imagination and listening skills.
At the end, children share their constellation art with the class and explain their star patterns or stories. -
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I think I would continue to use ‘The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet’ as a lesson stimulus to act as a springboard into a lesson about Mars and aliens for my Senior Infant class. In the story, Danny and his dinosaur blast off in a rocket which introduces the idea of travelling to other planets. After reading, I would ask the children: “What if they landed on Mars instead?” This could leads into a discussion about Mars—what it looks like, how it’s red and dusty, and how it’s different from Earth. I would show simple images or a short video clip of Mars’ surface, focusing on language to describe craters, rocks, and the possibility of robots exploring it. We could then brainstorm what kind of aliens might live on Mars—if any! They could draw and design their own Martian, give it a name, and describe what it eats, how it moves, and where it lives on Mars. As a class we could do a whole class chart and compare Earth and Mars (e.g., Earth has water, Mars is dry).
There are lots of follow up activities that could be done such as:
Art: created their own aliens using clay or other craft materials, deciding how many eyes, arms, and legs their alien would have, and then shared their creations in a fun “Alien Show and Tell.”
Maths: “Alien Shop” where the children can use coins to buy space items, helping them practice counting and develop money-handling skills through role play.
STEM/groupwork: the children designed and built alien spaceships using recycled materials, discussing how their alien would travel home. Focusing on the push and pull theory, sizing, material use etc.
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For the “Design a Martian” theme with Junior Infants, I would start by reading Julia Donaldson’s “The Smeds and the Smoos” to introduce aliens in a fun and friendly way. The story sparks imagination and encourages conversations about differences and friendship.
After reading the story, I would encourage children to draw their own Martians, asking questions about features like the number of eyes, limbs, and colours to inspire creativity. Then, we could sort pictures or models of Martians by size, colour, or number of limbs, linking to early maths skills. Using playdough, pipe cleaners, and recycled materials, children could build 3D Martians to develop fine motor skills. To add movement, the class could imitate how their Martians might move, supporting gross motor development. Finally, we could design simple “homes” for the Martians with blocks and discuss what they need to live there. -
The Activity I have chosen for this module’s assignment is ‘Space and Aliens – Create an Alien.’ I would begin with a whole class discussion. I would ask the children what they think aliens might look like and what they already know about them. I would ask questions, e.g. “What do you think they might eat?” “How many eyes would they have?” etc. I would read the story “Aliens Love Underpants,” by Claire Freedman, to the children. I would follow this up by letting the children design and make their own alien. I would provide children with A4 paper and art supplies (crayons, pencils, markers, clay, feathers, pipe cleaners, goggle eyes etc). I would ask the children to design their own alien, encouraging them to use their imagination and what they learned from the story. As a follow up activity, the children could create and perform an “alien dance”. This integrates literacy, art and P.E., making it a cross-curricular, fun and engaging lesson for junior classes.
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Aliens and space
I would begin the lesson by reading the story “Aliens love underpants”. Children always love this story and it is great for starting discussions on Aliens.
After reading the story we would discuss the book. What happens? What did the aliens look like in the story?What did they travel in?
Then we would discuss other famous aliens- Monsters inc what did the aliens look like in these movies, how many eyes? how many legs? colours? traits? hairy? smooth? etc
Art- The children will be given an opportunity to create their very own aliens using a variety of materials. They can make them from playdough or paper. The children will need to select what shapes are needed for their aliens- squares, circles, ovals, rectangle, square, etc. How many eyes, arms, legs their aliens will have.
After the children create their aliens we will display their aliens and discuss what alien name they decided to select for their alien. The children will take pictures of their aliens and we will use photo story to show families the aliens at home.
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I really like your idea of beginning with Aliens love underpants. Combining art and crafts with literacy and the factual aspect of learning about different planets will make for a very engaging lesson. I like to combine this with allowing our aliens to imaginatively land on all the planets in the solar system. What would each planet look like? How would the alien survive. ESA has a wonderful series of Paxi videos that are really engaging for younger students and would compliment lessons on space, planets and aliens. Here is an example of one https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iYvcTXU3axM?playlist=iYvcTXU3axM&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3&loop=1&start=
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I would use the activity set stars
To teach stars to junior classes, I would use a combination of a book, a song, and a video to make learning fun and engaging for all types of learners. I would start by reading a simple, colourful picture book like There’s No Place Like Space from the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library. This book uses fun rhymes and bright illustrations to introduce the concept of stars, helping children understand what stars are and where they live in space. Next, by singing the classic song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star which most children know and can engage in. This helps them to connect with the idea of stars through music. You can make the song more interactive by adding hand motions or using star-shaped props, which helps reinforce the concept and keeps their attention. Finally, show a short, age-appropriate video from popular children’s programs like Sesame Street or StoryBots. These videos use simple language and colorful animations to visually explain what stars are, how they shine, and where we can see them in the night sky. By combining reading, singing, and watching, children engage multiple senses and learning styles, making the concept of stars easier to understand and more enjoyable.
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Sorcha,
is there an inquiry investigation that you think could support this? This would be based on the children’s own wondering, and might be answered by research rather than a practical investigation.
A possible way to do this could be by asking children to look for the first star on a particular night, and then to go back outside after an hour and see if there are more stars (and roughly how many more). They could then explore in class the effect of having a dim light in a bright room, vs how easy it is to see the same light in a much darker cupboard.
In the winter months in Ireland it gets dark so early that even young children could try this.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I really like the Framework for Inquiry Mars: Junior Activities
The trigger is super. Young students in general have great imaginations and love using this to create very individual pieces of art. The idea of creating a life form that can survive on Mars is very exciting and I can see how the students will be very interested in learning about Mars in order to create the best possible model. Using photos of Mars and digital images of Mars can really help in this learning. I think using maths extension activities with our Martians is a lovely way of bringing maths to life in an engaging way. Designing and making Martian life forms in school can also be extended to home projects where more life forms can be made at home and set up on planets of their own design and making. These can then be brought back into school and showcased for other classes in the school. (My students each year get particularly enthusiastic about home projects where work with parents and/or siblings is both encouraged and celebrated).
This Classroom Resource booklet about Mars is superb altogether. In all my years celebrating Space Week in a junior school I have never really focused on Mars. I look forward to really getting stuck in to this topic with this year’s students. -
When looking at Space as a thematic topic in the oast, I have done a lesson based on stars. I always start with the beautiful picturebook “How to Catch a Star” which the kids love. This often leads to the disussion of what we already know about stars, when we can see them and what they look like. Again this would link beautifully with constellations as some students migth already know things and want to share them with the class. There is a really nice Sesame Street song all about the sun, moon and stars and I would show this video to the class.
This could also work really well if you were studying an artist of the month and could look at “Starry Night” before allowing the children to create their own starry nught scenes.
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I would choose Activity Set 2 Space and Aliens.
My learning outcomes would be that the children
Learn about the solar system, space exploration, and the possibility of alien life.
Recall significant events relating to space exploration.Materials:
Chart paper & markers
Whiteborads.
Paper, crayons, or colored pencils
Cardboard, scissors, glue (for craft activity)
“Journey into Space” short video (5-7 minutes) National Geographic Kids.
Solar System song kidsTV123 on youtubekids.comI would start the lesson by asking questions such as
“What do you know about space?
What do you think is out there?
“Do you think there are aliens in space?”
I would then show the class the National Geographic Kids video Journey into Space and discuss this afterwards.
Following this, I would ask the children to complete a KWL on the planets of the solar system on their whiteboards.We would spend time looking up quick facts about the planets that the children could share (e.g., Mars is known as the “Red Planet,” Jupiter is the largest planet, etc.) The children could either do this on the IPADS during IPAD time or we could do it as a whole class on the whiteboard.
I would then play the solar system song on kidsTV123 on youtubekids.com the children could learn this song and sing it at assembly.
We would then spend some time discussing why space is so vast, and how far away the planets are from Earth. I would ask the children if they think aliens exist and if so what are they like? Some sample questions might be.
“What do you think aliens might look like?
Do you think they would look like us or be something completely different?”
“If you were an alien, where would you live in space?
What would your planet be like?”
This would then lead into an art lesson where the children would design their own alien. I would encourage the children to think about the antennae, tentacles, multiple eyes, of the alien.The children could present their work at the end and complete a 3,2,1 exit ticket as a form of self assessment – 3 things I learned are…, 2 areas I want to learn more about are…, 1 question I have is…
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Hi, I’ve chosen to share a project I have previously done with 2nd class on the topic of space and aliens which the pupils loved…esp the build a spaceship element. Worth a try.
Space & Aliens Project: “Out of This World!”
Age Group: 2nd class
Theme: “Exploring Space and Making Alien Friends!”
Goal: Learn basic space facts (planets, stars, astronauts) + use imagination to create your own alien and spaceship.
PART 1: Let’s Learn About SpaceStart with a Story or Video:
🧑🚀 “Once upon a time, a brave group of children blasted off into space in their rocket ship. They zoomed past stars, planets, and even… aliens!”Teach Simple Space Facts:
🌍 Earth is one of 8 planets
🌟 Stars are huge balls of gas
🌑 The Moon goes around the Earth
🪐 Planets spin and orbit the Sun
👨🚀 Astronauts go to space in rockets
🎵 Optional: Sing a space song (Planet Song or “Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon”)
PART 2: Create Your Own Alien!🎨 Materials Needed:Colored paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners
Glue, scissors, markers
Pom-poms, stickers, glitter (optional)
Steps:Ask: “What would your alien look like if it came from another planet?”
Cut out a body shape.
Add eyes (1 eye? 10 eyes?), arms, antennae, etc.
Give your alien a name and planet!
📝 Write or dictate a sentence:
“This is Zog from the planet Wigglywoo. He loves to eat moon cheese!” PART 3: Build a Spaceship!Options:Simple: Draw or color your rocket on paper.Crafty: Build it using recycled materials (paper towel tubes, boxes, foil).
Add windows, engines, buttons with bottle caps or paper cutouts. -
The idea of the grains of sand and how you would count the grains,gives a very good idea of the number of stars in the galaxy, which have been discovered, mapped and named and the countless stars which have yet to be found. The sifting of sand through the hands would be a very good activity for older children as they could estimate how many grains are going through per second!
There is a lovely David Attenborough sand art video (BBC), where an artist, Fred Brown, mapped Attenborough’s portrait in the sand and it was only visible when the tide was out. As the tide came in the portrait slowly disappears. It emphasises the ever changing nature of science and our environment, and how difficult it is to grasp all its facts.
I would use this digital video (33seconds) to kick start the discussion on stars. I would follow it with the GAIA video on measuring galaxies as this would be a very good lesson for Rang 5 to learn the new vocabulary: binary stars, Milky Way, The Plough,multi star system, extra galatical, star velocity etc. It would include mathematical numbers which are fun for children to work with 33 million stars in new data release from E ESA.
There is potential for creative and discussion in the naming of Black Hole 1 and Black Hole 2. We would conclude the lesson by constructing a Star Constellation or a Black Hole using various Art and Craft Materials. The children would be encouraged to look into the future and name their constellation or Black Hole.
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I love the idea of the sand art video to give some relatable context. It can be so difficult to really understand something that the children can’t relate to their own lives and environments. The creative aspect of naming the black holes would be really motivating for my class and I can see extending it to persuasive writing, having to convince everyone that their name suggestion is the best option.
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The counting of marbles in a jar is a very good way of counting the stars that we know of already.This could be further developed by putting marbles of different sizes in the jar to see if the jar fills up quicker.This could get the children thinking of the complex mathematical computations that are linked to the number of stars in the galaxy.
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The “Lots and Lots of Stars” activity set from ESERO is a fantastic resource that I would love to implement in my classroom. The activity provides a rich context to explore both the science of stars and the wonder of the night sky through observation, discussion, and creativity.
I would begin by introducing the topic with a night-sky video or planetarium-style projection, encouraging children to share what they notice and wonder. This naturally sparks questions like “Why do stars twinkle?” or “Why can we only see them at night?” From there, we’d explore the idea that stars are not just decorations in the sky—they are distant suns, each with its own story.
Children could engage in hands-on tasks like creating constellation maps with star stickers, designing their own constellations, and telling stories about them—linking science with storytelling. We’d also use models to compare the sizes and distances of stars and planets, reinforcing how immense space truly is.
What makes this activity especially powerful is how it balances fact with imagination. Children are encouraged to observe patterns, ask questions, and make sense of the universe on their own terms, while still learning real science concepts such as light years, star brightness, and star colour.
To document learning, I would use student star journals, voice recordings of their constellation stories, and time-lapse drawings of the night sky. It’s a beautiful way to nurture curiosity, connect science and culture, and build foundational astronomy knowledge in an age-appropriate way. -
Module 3- Stars
The activity set I would choose is Stars. If I was teaching this in a junior class, I would probably start by using the question ‘What is a star?’ to open the discussion and establish what the pupils already know. Maybe discussing in pairs to give everyone a chance. These Youtube clips show some interesting facts relating to this.
https://youtube.com/shorts/E-n5pWrhmeo?si=gOuK6nlIxJ-YElfm
https://youtube.com/shorts/WE_I-1-IoS0?si=2MzlYT8EFkQFGHr5
https://youtu.be/ZrS3Ye8p61Y?si=bzau4PRiet6q2K7h
The ESERO resource13 ‘Lots and lots of stars’ provides a variety of activities to demonstrate to the pupils the actual amount of stars in the sky. The ‘How Many Stars Are There?’ activity using marbles and jars is an excellent way to visually represent this, particularly for younger children who haven’t yet established awareness of larger numbers. I’d then show the pupils the photo of the night sky before commencing the suggested art activity. This activity could also be done as a whole class mural type activity using a roll of paper (we often use the backs of rolls of wallpaper)- to show the children that there are so many stars that it takes the entire class to paint them.
The Maths activity at the end (counting stars) could be used for very young pupils.
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In order to help develop the children’s understanding of the number of stars in the sky the activity using marbles is very useful as it engages the children in a hands-on learning activity and it is very visual. It could be altered to use grains of rice in the 3rd jar to show them that there are so many stars we couldn’t possibly count them.
The stars art activity is a fun way to complete the lesson, it is a simple way for the children to paint lots of stars in the sky!
The seeing stars 3d activity is a really effective way for older children to see the outline of the plough. The integration with maths is very good. A printable star map could be given to them showing simple constellations such as the big dipper and the plough, they could try and look for them at night as a homework assignment, taking a photo to bring in and show the class.
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Hi Maria,
Really like your post – you’ve mentioned some great ways to make the concept of stars both meaningful and memorable for children. I agree that using marbles (or grains of rice) is a brilliant hands-on approach to help illustrate the vastness of space in a tangible way. It’s such a simple but powerful visual.
The art activity is a lovely way to end the lesson – creative tasks like that really help consolidate learning, especially for younger children. I also really liked your idea of incorporating the Seeing Stars 3D activity with maths. Giving older children a star map and encouraging them to stargaze at home adds a great cross-curricular and real-life element to the topic. Asking them to take a photo is a fun and achievable challenge too – it brings the learning beyond the classroom and makes it feel personal.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
This activity is based on the hugely popular picture book Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. Begin with a shared reading of the book, the children participate in a guided discussion with questions such as “Why do the aliens love underpants?” and “What would your alien look like?” helping to develop comprehension and imagination. The story’s humorous and colourful illustrations provide a fun entry point for learning about space and creativity.
Then the children can design their own alien and a matching pair of crazy underpants. They draw their alien and decorate underpants using art and craft materials on a large page (or use a teacher designed template). This task promotes visual expression and fine motor skills, while allowing the children to explore their own imaginative ideas inspired by the story. To extend the activity, older or more advanced children can write a short sentence or paragraph about their alien, describing its name, what kind of underpants it wears, and why.
Extension Activity: Wax Crayon Underpants Painting.
Large underpants template, white wax crayons, watery paint, paint brushes.
Children draw/design shapes, pictures or patterns on a template using white wax crayons. Ensure they press hard with white crayon; chunky white crayons work best.
Talk about what the children notice, can they see their drawings? …. explain it’s difficult to see as both are white.
Now do some magic painting to make their drawings appear, the children paint over the top of their drawings with watery paint.
They describe their drawings.
Why can they see their picture now?…….Watery paint doesn’t stick to the wax from the crayon.The children can share their creations with the class, building confidence in speaking and listening. The artwork and writing pieces can be displayed in a themed wall display titled “Alien Underpants Parade.” This activity integrates English, Visual Arts, and elements of Science, encouraging playful learning through storytelling, creativity, and collaboration.
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I chose the Space and Aliens activity set because it sparks curiosity and imagination while linking directly to science and literacy outcomes. In my classroom, I would use this set as part of a thematic week focusing on space exploration and storytelling. We would begin with a shared reading of a space-themed book, followed by a group discussion on what life might be like on other planets. Students would then create their own alien characters using art materials or a digital drawing tool, describing their habitats, diets, and modes of communication. This would lead into a writing task where students produce a short story or diary entry from the alien’s perspective. This activity promotes creativity, oral language development, and narrative writing skills. Reflecting on the lesson, I found that blending science fiction with personal expression motivated even reluctant writers and encouraged peer collaboration in a fun, imaginative setting.
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I really enjoyed reading the ESERO Special Life lesson. I think that the topic of aliens is one that children really enjoy and are fascinated by. There are lots of opportunities for integration with this lesson also – particularly with the arts e.g. creating an alien dance in PE, composing a piece of music based on aliens in music, acting out an interaction between an alien and a human when the alien has just arrived on Earth etc
I would adapt the ESERO lesson for my 1st and 2nd class. I would start the lesson by asking the class ‘I wonder what an alien might look like?’ I would ask them to think about what an alien would look like/sound like/feel like etc and we would have a whole class discussion surrounding this.
I would then provide a variety of materials for the class to design their own aliens. I would get them to sketch their design first and think about textures/shapes/number of limbs etc before choosing what materials they will use e.g. pipe cleaners, playdough, straws etc I would then give the children the chance to construct their aliens.
I liked the way the children acted out their drawings in the ESERO lesson so I would include a similar element in my lesson. Once the children have their creations completed I would ask them to think about their alien – where do they live? What do they like to do for fun? What is their home like?etc and the children will go into role as their alien and present it to the class. The other children will ask the student questions about their alien and the child presenting will answer in character as their creation.
There is lots of scope for creative writing and drama from this lesson also.
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Hi Orla, your approach is so creative and playful! The way you’ve integrated drama, art, and even PE into the lesson is fantastic. I especially liked the idea of the children going into role as their aliens and responding to questions in character. It is such a fun way to build confidence and oral language skills. The sketching stage before construction is a lovely touch too, as it encourages planning and attention to detail. This sounds like such an engaging and memorable experience for your class!
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That sounds like such a fun and creative lesson! I love the idea of getting the kids to really imagine their aliens with all those details about how they look, feel, and move. Adding a step where they create alien passports for a trip to Earth would be a really fun way to bring even more character and background stories to their aliens. It’d make the whole experience feel even more real and exciting for the kids—like their alien is preparing for a big adventure! Plus, it’s a great way to blend art, writing, and drama together. They could include info like their alien’s name, home planet, special powers, and what they hope to do on Earth.
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Orla,
I think
The other children will ask the student questions about their alien and the child presenting will answer in character as their creation.
is a simple, and brilliant idea. A child who may be very shy and reluctant to talk can work that into their alien’s persona. Perhaps their alien comes from a planet that is very quiet (thick atmosphere?) so only speaks very quietly themselves?
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I really like the playful approach specially for 1/2nd – there’s such focus on play in JI/SI and even though we talk of playful approaches up the school I really feel we don’ actually give the opportunity as much as the curriculum suddenly jumps much heavier.
Really like the drama and literacy links, properly thematic
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Stars
Learning objectives:
To begin learning about stars and constellations
To recreate simple constellations seen in the northern hemisphere using a Star Lantern.
That children are able to describe how stars make patterns and that we
call these patterns constellations
Children can name at least one famous constellation and make its pattern
Lesson
I would ask pupils to close their eyes and imagine they are looking at
the dark, night sky. What can they see? Stars, the moon, a
planet, a satellite? I would ask them to describe the
stars they can see – are they shiny, twinkly, sparkling, bright,
yellow, etc.
I would ask if anyone has seen a very starry night? Where was
this?
I would explain that many years ago, people looked at the stars and
imagined they could join them up like dot to dot pictures and
make animals, objects and story characters. I would show the children
a picture of the Plough and explain that a plough is a tool used
to dig up the earth ready for planting. I would tell them we can often see the
Plough in the night sky as it’s near to the pole star which is
always visible in the sky. Has anyone seen the Plough in the
sky? A group of stars that forms a pattern is called a
constellation.
I would show pupils some pictures of simple
constellations and talk about the patterns they form.
Then I would give them white paper and some star
stickers and ask them to create a constellation with the
stickers. They could create the Plough or a constellation of
their choice.
I would integrate this lesson with responding to “Starry Starry Night “ painting by Van Gogh and also making a Star Lantern, by asking children to look at drawings of constellations and questioning- “What do you see? Can you recognize some of them?” Then we would make a star lantern that is going to project the constellation on the walls. We would do this using the downloaded resources from the module 3 resource pack.
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I really like the activity set for Stars. Stars are already used in classroom language (you are a star, superstar, star of the line, sports star etc), pictograms for recording information, in literature – in a huge variety of ways that can connect students to want to investigate Stars further or make them think of stars from a different angle.
I really liked the lesson: Lots and lots of stars!
I would start off as instructed with the activity:How many Stars are there?
I think the children would enjoy the marbles visual and that it uses a concrete material to connect them to a more abstract concept of billions of stars.
I would then go onto the “Making a starry sky” activity.
This provides the hands on element of learning that is so important in creating memorable learning experiences for the children. Art is a great way to integrate Science and Maths. It is a subject that is very popular (I have found) and facilitates self directed exploration and meaningful learning.
Discuss the Starry Sky.
Although only allocated 5 mins in the lesson plan, these five minutes of reflection and sharing of ideas are so important to consolidate learning. It can be a step many teachers skip when faced with time challenges, but without these five minutes, the lesson would not be as impactful.
Finally: Counting Stars activity
Handing out a worksheet at the end of a lesson is not always my favourite thing to do unless it has a real purpose. Here they use it to get the children to actually count the stars. It is a practical conclusion to the lesson that can integrate maths and counting/number formation.
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Hi Orla,
I love your lesson idea on stars. You are so right about the mention of stars being used daily in school life through a variety of different ways. Integrating maths and art together is always a favourite of mine and I like your ideas on how you would do that. I think introducing Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting could be a final piece of artwork when discussing this topic of space with any class level.
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Activity set 2: Space and Aliens
I would use this set with my class as I feel children love talking about aliens and because its so abstract there are no right or wrong answers so everybody feels safe giving their opinions and ideas. I would start the lesson by using Julia Donaldsons book The Smeds and The Smoos or Welcome to Alien school.
A story will grab their attention straight away and hook them in. I would firstly give them whiteboards and let them brainstorm their ideas on what their alien looks like, what kind of planet/environment does it live in: How does their alien express needs? ( e.g. does its skin glow? does it make sounds? I would then give them playdoh / clay and let them design their alien. The links across the curriculum here are endless:
Example: Art and Design – drawing and modelling, using shapes, textures and colours
English: oral language development, creative writing – aliens stories
Drama: Role play or story telling – acting out alien characters in the family
Science: creating a habitat for an alien
Maths: Using the aliens for early number work, sorting and classifying.
I would then have the children photograph their aliens and upload it to see saw so they can describe their alien to their parents. They can make a recording of how they made their alien and a brief description of what their alien does etc. -
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I chose the activity set: Stars
I really enjoyed watching the video about the Star constellation and making it with the outline of the star map, black card, string and tinfoil. I think this is an excellent hands on activity for children and one that they would really enjoy. I also liked the way it could be adapted for younger children using straws and sticking them on. I will probably take this approach in my classroom. The part that I really enjoyed about this activity was the viewing it from different viewpoint and say what you see. I think this would be really interesting to follow this up with the activity ‘I used to be a saucepan now I am a…’. This would be very intriguing to see what the children come up with.
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Activity Set: The Planets
Introduction: KWL chart- what is the prior knowledge of the class
I would play ‘The Planet’ song. I would display images of all the planets and ask the children to match the images to the correct planet name.Class discussion: What is space? Who/what lives on the planets? Etc.
Development: imagine astronauts found a new planet!
– design the new planet. What does it look like?
– write a report on your new planet
– make a 3d model of your new planetConclusion: present their planet to the class. Can they add their new planet to ‘The Planet’ song
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Activity set: Space and Aliens
intro: I would read a story or play a video that introduces the idea of aliens or life beyond Earth. This would lead into a class discussion with open-ended questions like: “What do you think aliens might look like?” or “If aliens visited Earth, what would they find interesting?”
Development: Students would asked to create their own alien character, thinking about what planet it might come from and how that environment would influence the alien’s features (e.g., extra eyes to see in the dark, long legs for low gravity).
Activity: Students would present their new alien through drawing, writing a short story, or presenting their alien through role-play or a “Welcome to Earth” interview to the class.
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The “Space and Aliens” activity set offers an exciting and imaginative way to explore space, while encouraging creativity, communication, and critical thinking.
As a 2nd Class teacher, I see this theme as a rich opportunity to integrate science, literacy, art, and SPHE in a playful, meaningful way.
To begin, I would launch the topic with a “mystery message from space” – a note or recording from an alien who is curious about Earth and wants to learn more. This will instantly capture the children’s attention and give the whole activity a sense of purpose. I’d display glowing stars or dim the lights to create a space-like atmosphere in the classroom.
We would explore the central question:
“What would it be like to meet an alien or travel through space?”
From here, the children could generate their own questions such as:
• What do aliens look like?
• Could we live on another planet?
• How would we talk to aliens?
These questions would guide our class discussions and activities, supporting enquiry-based learning.Science: Exploring Planets and Space Travel
Using books, simple videos, and model-making, I’d introduce basic facts about the solar system. We’d compare Earth to other planets and imagine what it would be like to live somewhere else. Children could create fact cards or simple planet passports.Art & Design: Create Your Own Alien
Each child would invent their own alien character. They would draw it, name it, and describe its planet, language, and habits. This supports creativity and links well with SPHE (identity and imagination)Literacy: Alien Reports / Space Stories
Children would write a short narrative or report:
• “I met an alien!” or
• “My trip to Planet Zog”
This allows for genre exploration – from recounts to imaginative writing. For oral language, children could present their alien to the class like a news reporter or space explorer.Drama & Role Play: Alien School Visit
We could transform the classroom into an alien landing site. Children could act as Earth tour guides showing an alien around our school or interviewing them about life on their home planet.At the end of the activity set, we would hold a “Mission Debrief” – a circle time reflection where students share what they learned, what surprised them, and what they enjoyed most. I would assess learning informally through participation, creative outputs, and class discussions.
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I would look at the activity set of Space and Aliens. This is a topic that the children also love to look at and I find I get great engagement from them. The Claire Freedman Aliens In Underpants books are a great stimulus for lessons on Space and Aliens. After reading one of these books we would discuss what Aliens look like, are the all the same, what similarities or differences might they have. I would then task the children with drawing their own Aliens using the material of their choice. I would encourage the children to create their own individual and unique aliens explaining that there is no right or wrong way to create their alien. Once finished we would discuss their different aliens, looking at any similarities or differences. Children would be given the opportunity to discuss any changes they might like to make to their aliens. As an extension the children will be given the opportunity to make their own aliens using play doh. I will also provide extra materials such as sequins, pipe cleaners, buttons, match sticks etc. Children will then be asked to name and describe their own alien. To finish off the lesson we might do an activity such as the alien boogie from Go Noodle.
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Activity set: Space and Aliens
The children in my senior infant class are very interested in aliens so I would focus my lesson around this activity set. I would start the lesson with a firm favourite picture book, ‘Aliens love Underpants’ and continue the discussion from there – what do you think aliens look like, where do they live, explaining that aliens are imaginary creatures from outer space — no one knows what they really look like, so we can imagine anything we like! Then I would encourage my class to create their own alien, firstly making a rough drawing on their whiteboards so they can decide on the different elements they would like to add, and then using play dough. I would extend this into the art lesson for the week, and get the children to paint their aliens they have created using playdough later in the week, designing them with pom poms, glitter, jewels, googly eyes etc.
When the children have finished making their aliens using play dough, myself and the class would move around the room table by table to look at everyone’s creations. We would finish the lesson by singing ‘The Alien Song’ linked below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbpCrp2mbjQ 🙂
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I would use the Space and Aliens activity set in my Junior and Senior Infants classroom to spark imagination and early exploration of science concepts. At this age, children are naturally curious and love to invent, so aliens are a perfect way to tap into that creativity. I would begin with a whole-class chat on the carpet, encouraging the children to describe what they think an alien might look like. We’d talk about where aliens might live and what kinds of things they might need to stay alive, linking this to what we need here on Earth, like food, water, and somewhere to sleep.
To build excitement, I’d read Here Come the Aliens! by Colin McNaughton, a fun, rhythmic story with bold illustrations and silly creatures that would inspire the children’s own alien ideas. After the story, the children would be invited to design their own alien using playdough, junk art materials, or drawing tools. I’d keep the language open-ended and accessible, asking questions like “What colour is your alien?” or “Does your alien have arms or tentacles?”
The children would then take turns showing their aliens to the class and describing them in simple sentences, which supports oral language, confidence, and listening skills. As an extension, we could create an “Alien Adventure” small world area using toys, recycled materials, and space-themed props, where the children can act out stories involving their aliens. -
For this lesson with my 2nd class students, I would use Activity Set 2 Space and Aliens to spark curiosity and creativity. We’d begin with a fun story like ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ to get the class laughing and thinking, followed by a discussion on what aliens might look like and where they might live. Using a KWL chart, we’d explore what children already know and wonder about space, with a focus the planets. We’d examine images and footage from the Perseverance rover, comparing the Martian landscape to Earth and discussing what it might be like to live there.
Children would then design their own Martians, considering how they might adapt to Mars’s harsh conditions. These creations would be presented to the class and displayed in a ‘Martian habitat’ corner. To extend the learning, children could build their own Mars rovers using Lego Spike, thinking about how they would move and collect data. Finally, they’d write a postcard home or a short story from their Martian’s perspective, bringing together science, design, and literacy in an interesting, playful and engaging way.
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I think I would use Activity set 2: Space and Aliens with my incoming Junior Infants.
I think children of all ages are interested in this topic and it would definitely grab their attention. I would start with a funny book such as ‘There’s an Alien in my Book’ or ‘Aliens love Underpants’ or even the ‘Smeds and the Smoos’ by Julie Donaldon.
We would then talk about what aliens are and if we think they exist and why? We could look at a specific planet – such as Mercury and what the conditions are like on that planet. Then I could give each child a blank A4 page and we could design our own Alien, specifically to ,live on this planet. They could just draw and colour them first, they could then give them a name. This could be extended to art where they paint their own alien, they could make their alien from play dough or clay.
Another fun activity would be to ask the children what they would like to teach the Aliens about Earth. We could write them down together on a large sheet and the n display this with our Aliens when they are all finished.
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I really like this idea of getting the pupils talking about aliens getting them then to describe how they look how tall they are face she’ll expressions how they walk how they talk how they’re similar to us how they are different to us and then getting them to draw that down on paper, I think it would also be great for children of Junior and Senior Infants to make an alien scene out of junk art, first they could all make their own aliens and then as a group they could make a base, a scene (using sand and stones/rocks) and put all their aliens into it. They didn’t even come up with a name for this planet, where all their aliens live.
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I would love to teach the activity set ‘Stars’ to my Second Class pupils. I will start with the ‘Lots and Lots of Stars’ activity. The children will estimate the number of stars in the sky. This will allow me to integrate the topic of estimation in Maths. This activity will foster the pupils’ critical thinking skills.
Next, we will integrate Arts and Crafts. The children will be encouraged to create a starry night background by splattering paint. From here we will explore the constellations. We will learn about The Big Dipper and The Plough and how we can find them in the night sky.
Using Space Week resources, we will learn about spatial language, and we will draw star patterns from different perspectives. This will highlight how or view of stars changes.
Finally, we will further explore constellation shapes. The pupils will be encouraged to draw their own constellations, incorporating the shapes that they have already learned about.
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For my lessons on stars I would firstly get them singing twinkle twinkle little star – a song they all know but maybe they have never really listened to the words. Discussion would start off by do you ever wonder what a star is-followed by a round of questions as to what a star is – when do we see them , what are they made of, how far away are they from earth. How many stars are there in the sky.
Activity one draw a sky full of stars
Lesson 2
Lots of people have wondered about the stars like in twinkle, twinkle do you now any other times we talk about a star. Illict you are a star- what does it mean if someone says you are a star- why- because we are thankful for the stars why- they make our sky beautiful but also the sun is a star and it gives us light and warmth.
WE would then have a look at Van Goghs starry starry night and discuss colours, stars planets, moons – when they think this was drawn- day or night. This would be followed up by looking at and observing actual photos of the night perhaps focusing in on one of the more famous patterns of stars – pointing out the plough and identifiying the seven stars that make it up. Ideally if within the childrens abililtiy we would plot the position of the the plough using the straws model.
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Hi Sarah, I like your idea of using Van Goghs Starry Starry Night as a stimulus for learning about stars and what they look like. I think it’s a great way to integrate Visual Arts with Science and Mathematics, as the children connect ideas of colour and shape both in the painting and in everyday star patterns.
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Sarah,
some interesting work has been done on “awe” and the night sky – and how this sense of vastness and insignificance is vital.
see https://www.nightskyresourcecenter.org/star-trails-blog-on-light-pollution/awe
and
https://darksky.org/news/the-importance-of-awe/
Singing twinkle twinkle little star can be the first step on the path of awe.
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For my module 3 assignment I chose the Space and Aliens activity. I would begin this activity by introducing a think pair share session, asking ‘What is an alien?’. Each pair would then share their answer and these ideas would be listed on the board to form a common idea of an ‘alien’.
Using a digital resource such as Activinspire, I would ask the children to help me create an alien on the board using different 2D shapes. Different children would be chosen to name one 2D shape and state what part of the body they want it to be e.g. Triangle for the head, circle for one eye.
Following this, the children would be given a box of 2D shapes that they can use to create their own alien.
To conclude this lesson, the children would get to sketch their finished alien on paper and would be asked to share what types of 2D shapes they used.
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I have a special class of mixed ages abilities and interests, and the “Seeing Stars : Looking ant the Plough” activity would be lovely to do with them.
The older pupils could do the activity with the black card, marking out the dots and then putting the black string/thread through the dots, with the tinfoil pieces on the end of them. I’d have to get help to attach it to the ceiling as my ceilings are quite high but the effect would be stunning especially if the blinds were closed. I’d try to use black string or thick black thread as wool could blow in the wind if the classroom door was opened.Regarding the younger pupils, they could receive a lot more adult help doing the same exercise.I would follow this up with the “Constellation Viewer” activity from the booklet “Stargazing Live Event Pack” page 3 and 4, using toilet rolls and photocopies of the Ursa Major, Leo, Orion and Perseus. A lot of adult help needed to use a pin to go through the dots.
I also like the next exercise in this booklet using a peppercorn and different slices of fruit to explain the sizes of the planets. Then using the toilet roll to show the distance between the sun and each planet. I definitely think that would stay in their memories forever.
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For my Module 3 assignment, I chose the Space and Aliens activity. We’d begin with a class discussion about what might be different on other planets—what kinds of people or creatures might live there, how they would move, communicate, and what their world might look like. This would lead into a drama session where the children act out life on another planet, using imaginative movements, sounds, and gestures.
As a follow-up, the children would create their own aliens using clay, based on the ideas they came up with. I’d also use the Mars Classroom resource, which includes a great starting discussion on what a Martian might look like. From there, we could sort and classify the clay aliens by features such as number of eyes, limbs, colours, or textures—linking with oral language, science, and early maths skills.
To extend the drama element, I’d take on the role of a visiting alien who has just landed in the classroom. The children could explain where they are, who they are, and what happens in school on Earth. This would encourage role-play, improvisation, and language development in a fun and imaginative way.
For music, we could use the Star Wars theme or another instrumental space track to inspire movement and atmosphere. For PE, I’d plan a space-themed movement game like “Rocket, Planet, Asteroid” or set up an obstacle course where the children move through space, jumping over craters or dodging asteroids.
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To teach space and aliens to Junior Infants, I would create a fun, inclusive, and sensory-rich learning environment that encourages imagination and inquiry. I’d begin with an open-ended question like “What do you think lives in space?” to generate curiosity and discussion.
Using picture books such as “Aliens Love Underpants” and “The Smeds and the Smoos”, I’d build literacy while introducing space-themed vocabulary in an age-appropriate, playful way. The vocab from these books could be displayed on a space themed wall.
To make the learning inclusive and engaging, I’d use a range of multisensory resources during Aistear time. Some examples of these stations would be:
•Space-themed small world play with toy rockets, astronauts, and alien figures
•Tactile craft stations to create alien masks or paper-plate flying saucers
•A dark tent “spaceship” corner with twinkly lights for imaginative role play
I’d also include sensory bins with moon sand and alien slime for hands-on exploration. A great way of making moon sand or something similar is using flour, oil and a little conditioner. The scent of the conditioner is a favourite amongst children. -
The topic I chose is stars. I have just seen a wonderful idea from another member here to use an episode of Peppa Pig as an introduction. I think this would provide a great talking point. This would give a great indication of how much they already know.
To introduce mathematics, we would estimate how many stars there are, how many you can count on any given night, how far away they are, the questions and estimations are endless. I find the children love it when I admit I don’t know the answer and say let’s ask google!
I would then use the art activity in lots and lots of stars to make a starry sky using paint and toothbrushes. As a music activity we could sing twinkle twinkle or catch a falling star. As a follow up art activity we would make star lanterns from space week. There are so many stories and activities suggested in this module if time permits so much more can be done on this topic. -
The activity that I would choose to do in my classroom would be Stars. We would begin the lesson by singing the song ‘twinkle twinkle’. I would then ask some questions to gauge what background information they have. What are stars – little bright lights in the sky. When do we see stars – at night. What are stars made of – huge balls of gas, like the sun. Do you think stars can die – yes, because the gas eventually burns out. Why do stars look so small – because they are so far away.
I would then introduce (and explain where necessary) the word ‘plough’ and see if anyone knew the meaning behind the word in the context of stars.
I will show the class a copy of the plough and ask them to stick it onto a piece of black cardboard. They will use their pencil to poke a hole through to where the stars appear on the paper. Some teacher help will be needed for the next part – measuring and cutting straws the correct length for each star. We can then stick each straw onto the black paper using blu tack and then place a small ball of yellow play dough / Marla on top of each straw. They will then (hopefully!) be able to see which star of the Plough is nearest the earth and which is furthest away. -
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I would use the Star activity set.
To introduce the topic of stars, I will begin by reading the story How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. The story provides a creative starting point that invites children to think deeply and ask questions about the night sky. After the story, we will have a class discussion about what the children already know about stars—recording their ideas on a simple mind map. I will then explain, in age-appropriate language, what stars are made of (hot gases) and that the Sun is actually a star too. We’ll wonder together how many stars there might be in the sky and look at images of constellations. To finish, the children will create their own “starry night” paintings using dark paper, chalk, and paint. They can include stars, the moon, and even rockets or planets. This creative activity will help reinforce their understanding while allowing for expression and imagination.-
I really like this lesson Jenny, its simple and well structured and it is someting I could see an infant class really enjoying it. I love that they can be as creative as they like and I see the art section really brining the childrens inagination to life. Lots of chances for talk and discussion which I really try to promote in the infant classroom.
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The activity I would chose to do with my class is Space and Aliens. I would use this alien-making activity to spark creativity and introduce early science concepts to my junior infant class (ages 4–5). We’d begin by discussing what aliens might look like and how they might live on planets that are very hot, cold, or different from Earth. I’d prompt the children to think about how animals are adapted to their environments, like how polar bears have thick fur for the cold—and encourage them to imagine similar features for their aliens based on different planetary conditions.
Using modeling materials, the children would then create their own aliens. Afterward, we would have a sharing session where each child introduces their alien and explains why it looks the way it does. Finally, we’d work together to sort the aliens into groups based on features like number of legs, color, or size. This supports language development, early classification skills, and scientific thinking in a fun and engaging way.
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Lisa,
You’ve described an engaging activity that has scope for creativity and makes a direct link to science understanding. When the children “explains why it looks the way it does.” they are linking what they understand about why creatures are the way they are – to the environment in which they live.
This is a higher order thinking skill, so some children may find it difficult, or may not have thought at all about why they created an alien a certain way – so those children might do this activity ‘ in reverse’ and suggest an environment for their creature – perhaps drawing that environment. ie – You say: “this creature has long legs – where might it live?” and the child might connect this to knowledge they have about long legged animals, and suggest that it lives somewhere where it is free to run around.
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What a fantastic way to introduce young children to science through imagination and play! I love how you’ve linked the alien-making activity to real-world animal adaptations—it’s a clever way to build early understanding of environmental differences. The hands-on modelling and sharing session will really help with language development, and the sorting activity adds a lovely early STEM element. A brilliant, age-appropriate approach!
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Hi Lisa,
This is a lovely lesson on aliens. This is a great idea: doing clay modeling to make creative responses to how they think aliens might look. I would also add a story like Aliens Love Underpants or a poem, The Alien, by Julie Holder.
Also, using the different weather patterns on different planets to show how these aliens must adapt and comparing them to species found on Earth is excellent. Bats using echolocation, elephants being able to smell water from great distances, and even a puffer fish and how it can puff itself up as a defense tactic. Exploring how animals on Earth have adapted can give real inspiration to how they could create their own space aliens.
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I would use the topic of stars in my class:
I would first draw a mind map on the board and ask the students to tell me anything they know about stars. We would also do a similar activity asking the students where have they seen stars besides the sky – this would be an interesting line of enquiry! I’m sure answers would include flags, photos, films, objects and so forth. We would then watch a presentation all about stars and I would present a little test at the end. To further enhance the learning, we would look at famous paintings with stars such as Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night and get the students to recreate the picture. -
Stars:
I would work these lessons on Stars into a monthly Thematic lesson on Space.
Beginning with a focus songs called ‘Stars in Our Universe’ and ‘Space song’.
Looking at constellations we would study what stars are followed by focusing on constellations. Following lessons on different constellations pupils would choose one constellation and use the BCO worksheet to draw their own constellation.
We would further link our study to Science by creating constellations using circuits and bulbs to light up the layout, pulling down the blinds to see them light up in their glory and photographing them for display in the classroom. Linking up with an older class to assist the younger pupils in circuit making.
We would then create star lantern constellation tubes using toilet roll and paper, piercing the holes into the paper to create the constellation. We could place the tubes over our circuits to see them lighting up.
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I would choose the Stars activity set, as it offers a great opportunity to combine science with storytelling, art, and observation. In particular, I would focus on introducing constellations and how different cultures have interpreted the night sky throughout history. This opens up a space for discussion around mythology, storytelling, and even geography.
In the classroom, I would begin with a darkened room and use a simple torch and pinholed paper to project stars onto the wall or ceiling. We would talk about what we see in the night sky and what we might imagine those shapes to be. The children could then create their own constellations using black paper, chalk, and star stickers, coming up with names and short stories behind each one.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>This activity encourages creative thinking, supports visual learning, and provides a fun way to connect astronomy to the arts. It also lays the groundwork for discussions on navigation, seasonal changes, and the scale of space—all in an age-appropriate, hands-on way.</p> -
To start the Space and Aliens activity set, I would read a story such as Aliens Love Underpants or show a short, engaging video about space. This would lead into a group discussion where we talk about what children think aliens might look like, where they might live, and what it would be like to visit space. I’d encourage them to share their ideas and questions, helping them build on each other’s thoughts and imaginations.
Then, I’d set up activity stations around the room. One would be a role-play area transformed into a space station or alien planet, complete with simple costumes, props, and control panels. Another station would focus on creating alien language, where children could invent sounds, symbols, or gestures to communicate in fun and silly ways. There would also be a space for building spaceships using recycled materials, and a numeracy station with moon rocks for sorting, counting, and comparing sizes.
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I would teach an activity based on stars to teach my senior infant class.
I would start the lesson by asking children what we see in the sky at night and then get them to try and draw what they think a star looks like on their whiteboards. I would then explain to them that stars are big balls of burning gas that are so far away that make them look like tiny lights when we look up to them from Earth. I would use a similar analogy to Father Ted by using a toy and holding it close to show that it looks big but the further away we move the toy, the smaller it seems.
Then I will show the children some pictures of starry night skies and introduce the idea of constellations. I would tell them that sometimes people would connect the stars like a connect the dots picture and make out different shapes. I would show the children a few different constellations, like the Big Dipper and Orion. I would ask the children to talk to their partners to see if they can make out any shapes or pictures when they look at the stars. I would then show the children pictures of the different constellations with their stars connected up and tell them that each constellation had its own special story too, like the story of Orion the Hunter.
The next task the children will have will be to create their own star constellations. They will use black paper and dip a cotton ear bud into white paint to create their initial pattern and then a lighter white crayon to connect the dots and show their picture. Once they are finished, they can come up with a name for their constellation and I would help them write it underneath. I will put a sticky note over their constellation names so that they are covered for a moment.
The children would then have a chance to come up to the top of the class and let other children guess what their constellation is and tell each other what they see. Then we will uncover the sticky notes to show the names of all the creations.
To end the lesson, I would read the class the story How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.
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Hi Siobhan, what a lovely and imaginative lesson, The idea you have with the toy to explain how stars appear smaller from far away is both clever and accessible for that age group. I would use this in the future.Introducing the constellations through visuals and storytelling, then encouraging the children to find their own shapes in the stars is great. The creative activity of making their own constellations with paint and naming them is great for fine motor skills and their language development. The game with the sticky notes is another great idea I hope to use again.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I would begin with a engaging story as a hook to the topic. Reading a story like Aliens Love Underpants and asking questions like: What might aliens look like? Where could they live? This book could help with the children using their imagination and visualising aliens. The to develop the lesson I would ask the children to imagine an alien has landed and ask them what message from Earth would you share. The children would be encouraged to draw and create a role play sending that message in pairs. They then design their own alien, thinking about its body, habitat, and how it survives. In small groups, children would create a 3D model of their alien using play dough or art materials, and build its environment. Afterwards, they write a Alien Fact File or draw and label their alien. To reflect we could have a space walk, where the class go around the classroom exploring all the different aliens that the class created. The children would be encouraged to ask questions about the aliens features and habitats. To bring in a digital element, the children could take photos of the aliens using school tablets. These photos could then be used to create a digital class slideshow or an online book where each page has a different alien, along with the groups written description or an audio recording. This adds in digital literacy.
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In this lesson, I would introduce children to stars and constellations by first gathering them in a circle. I would ask if they had ever looked up at the night sky and what they saw. We would talk about how stars are bright lights in the sky and how people long ago would use their imagination to connect the stars into pictures, which they called constellations. To spark their interest, I would lead them in singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Then, I would show them simple constellations like the Big Dipper or Orion, using a poster or projector. We would talk about how people would use constellations to tell stories or find their way. After that, I would give each child black paper and a white crayon or chalk so they could create their own constellation. They might choose to copy one they saw or invent something new. As they worked, I would ask about their constellation and what story it might tell. At the end, they would be invited to share their artwork. This lesson would encourage curiosity, creativity, and imagination.
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Activity Set: Stars
3rd Class
The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson
Extract Chapter “Dark is Wonderful” about the excitement of looking at the stars and planets at night. The astronomer pointed out the bright pole star, the Plough, and Orion the great hunter to Plop to help the small owl overcome his fear of the dark.
Using this extract, I will introduce the idea of constellations in the night sky. We will look at the most common constellations that are visible from our night skies in Ireland.
We will look at some photographs of the Plough and count the number of stars needed to create this constellation.
Integration with maths and length as I will run through the items needed to create their own constellation of the Plough. Some children may make other constellations.
https://teachnet.ie/ej/pdf/dpsm_class_activity_the_plough.pdf
Following the activity above, the 3rd class will have two sheets and will copy a photocopy of the Big Dipper to measure the distance between stars and then measure each of the 7 pieces of wool to be 30 cm in length.
Using one square piece of kitchen foil, it can be taped to one piece of wool and made into a ball. Repeat this step with all pieces of tin foil and wool.
Poke a hole through each marking of the cardboard where the seven stars are located.
Measure the length of wool and mark 12 cm, 23 cm, and so on with a piece of chalk so that once completed, the stars will all hang at different heights.
Name the stars.
Attach the constellations to the classroom ceiling and look at it from different angles.
Finally, make a drawing of your constellation.
Procedural writing:
The children could write out the procedure for making their own constellation.
Persuasive writing
Should we protect our view of the stars by reducing light pollution? Discuss
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Hi Elizabeth,
This display would look great in the class room. The activity would work wonderfully with 3rd class students, I have first class next year so I may try the straw activity they suggested as a simpler task. I like the opportunity to incorporate length and you have suggested good genres for English integration in addition.
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Elizabeth – if you’re interested in “Should we protect our view of the stars by reducing light pollution? Discuss” – we have another course on offer that explicitly looks at light pollution and its effects. https://teachnet.ie/courses/steaming-through-dark-skies-and-biodiversity/
With BCO I contributed the first two modules and there are 2 modules on biodiversity and a final module that pulls it together with dark sky awareness in Ireland.
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I would choose the Alien Activity Set, as I believe it would immediately captivate most children due to their natural curiosity and interest in the unknown. Exploring their ideas and imaginations about what life on Mars—or other planets—might look like offers plenty of opportunity for wonder, creativity, and meaningful discussion.
I would plan a sequence of lessons, integrated with Art, drama and music building on the ‘Special Life in Space’ lesson. Children would work in groups, each taking on specific roles and responsibilities. Some children would design and draw imagined creatures from Mars, while others would draw the planet itself and the surrounding space setting. Ultimately choosing music to go to alongside their story.
Once satisfied with their designs, the children would transfer their final drawings onto sheets of acetate using markers. They would then cut out their characters and backgrounds and attach them to the ends of skewers with tape.
The children can then create, practice and finally perform a scene with their characters which would be projected onto the wall using an overhead projector, allowing the rest of the class to watch and enjoy their peers’ imaginative storytelling. -
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The activity that I chose for this module is the Create an Alien activity from the Space and Aliens set. I would start by asking the students if they had ever heard of the planet Mars. I would then show the children some photographs of what Mars looks like. Then I would ask the children “What would a Martian look like?”. We would discuss what aliens in general might look like and where they could live e.g. would they need big feet, why?
We would discuss how certain animals on Earth are adapted for places e.g. fur on polar bears or webbed feet on ducks. They would come up with some things that Martians might need on their body. I would then provide the children with some modelling materials and they would make their own 3D alien. At the end of the lesson we would sort their creations into families. This encourages the children to think about features that they can link between them.-
Kerri – you can also use google Mars (accessible from the downloaded version of Google Earth Pro) and zoom into some of the panoramas taken by the rovers. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers took panoramas, and there is a little photo icon that lets you zoom in and be surrounded by the landscape that the rovers saw.
If you don’t have Google Earth Pro, use https://www.google.com/maps/space/mars to show Mars from space.
We have a new European project that is going to look at how to use satellite images of Earth, Moon and Mars with schools – it should have outlines of useful material, although likely for older primary children. You can follow it at https://stemmos.eu/
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Lesson on Stars for the Infant Class.
I would commence the lesson with the picture book “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers. We would have a class discussion about what the children see at night when they look up at the sky. We will refer to the story-was the star in the sky or on the ground….can we really catch a star?
The children will learn that stars come out at night, are very hot and very far away. They twinkle in the sky. We will use a flash light in a darkened corner of the room to show the concept of “shining” The children will sing the song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” suing hand motions to mimic twinkling stars.
We will then incorporate art into our lesson. We will use black paper and star stickers to create our night sky.
We could extend this lesson by watching a short animation about the night sky. I can then introduce the sun as a very big star we see during the day.
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Hi Dee. I have the book ‘How to catch a sta’ in my classroom. I enjoy using it in our space lessons. Another book I also use is ‘The darkest dark’ it is by astronaut Christ Hadfield.
Also great tip from Frances about doing it in winter so children have lots of time to see the stars before bed. I will definitely keep this in consideration when I am planning my yearly scheme.
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With infant classes Story is the ideal way to introduce a topic. One of the books that I return to, time and time again is Tim Jeffers ‘How to Catch a Star’. I am not surprised to see that other participants on the course have also referenced this book! I would base an Art lesson around the story, linking it also to SPHE and developing friendships.
Art Lesson.
Materials: Wax crayons, diluted black paint, white card and paint brushes.
Using crayons the children draw how they imagine space looks like. We would look at images from the book as a stimulus. I would encourage them to lean heavily on the crayons so that the colours pop in the final picture. (Possibly more suited to children in SI or First Class who have developed the tripod grip). Using the black wash, the children would paint over their sky. It is lovely to watch their reactions when the paint does not adhere to wax drawings. I have found that they marvel at the contrast between the black was and the coloured crayons. -
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I would base a lesson on stars and the constellation.
I would introduce the topic by showing the children some videos about stars.
We would then look at some fascinating facts about stars.
Finally we would examine the topic of constellations. For homework the children could try and identify a constellation in the night sky. (winter homework).
Using old clothes hangers, we would bend the wire into the shape of the simpler constellations. We would then add glow in the dark stars and attach them to the classroom ceiling.
When the blinds are closed and lights are off the children could have fun identifying the different constellations.
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Patrick,
this would work nicely with some of the simpler constellations as you have said.
Good choices would be Cassiopeia (a W), Pegasus (a square with some tail and leg bits),
This could be extended slightly by asking the children to pick out the ‘simpler’ ones and to justify why they consider one simple or not.
https://noirlab.edu/public/education/constellations/
or you could look at different culture’s star charts, such as this one:
Detail of the Dunhuang Star Chart showing the North Polar region (British Library Or.8210/S.3326) from wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dunhuang_star_map.jpg#file
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The activity I would set up in my classroom is the Create your own Martian on Mars Space Week activity.
I would introduce the lesson by using the trigger question
Trigger question – what would a martian look like ?
– and then use a mind map or sketch and draw what they would look like.
We could use the photos of mars resources and see what mars looked like to further create clothes or accessories for the martians and create discussions around this.
I would then conduction the investigations by creating the martians using 3D materials.
And finish the lesson we lots of group discussion and a display of each others martians describing them and discussing why they chose characteristics etc.
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Activity Set – Space and Aliens ~ create an Alien. This activity will be carried out in pairs.
I will start the lesson by discussing orally what they think an Alien looks like – how many arms, legs, eyes, and head do they have, do they have a nose and what does it look like, what colour/s are they, do they have spots, spikes, strips, fur, skin, do they wear clothes, etc. Then I will read the book ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’ by Julia Donaldson to the children to give them some more ideas. I feel carrying out the oral discussion first will give me a better understanding of what the children think aliens look like.
The children will return to their tables and discuss with their partners what they would like their Alien to look like. They will also discuss about how they are going to make their Alien in 3D form as this might help then with their design. They will be using a variety of resources – playdough, marla, clay, wire, tinfoil, pipe cleaners, goggly eyes, felt, paper, fabric, wool, cardboard and anything else they would like to use. They will then sketch and design their aliens on paper.
Once the children are all happy with how their Aliens look on paper they will then start to create their Alien in 3D form.
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Niamh,
thanks for mentioning the Smeds and the Smoos – what a great story. I’ve only just noticed that red rhymes with Smed and blue with Smoo!
I wonder what names they will come up with for green or yellow aliens!
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lesson space and aliens
I would being by reading the story Life on Mars by John Agee, a story about an astronaut landing on Mars searching for signs of life there. This story will open up a discussion about whether the children think there is life on Mars.
We would discuss what it might feel like to land on another planet. If a creature from another planet were to land on Earth, what would be the most interesting thing they would see here.
I would then ask the children to imagine they have landed on Mars only to find a martian or alien, what might it look like. I would ask the children to sketch their maritan. Then I would provide a variety of materials such as airdough, clay, card, construction cardboard materials, paint, from which the children could choose to make their martian.
As a follow up activity with a literacy link, I would ask the children to write a character profile for their martian including information about their name, appearance, personality, likes, dislikes.
To link with drama, the children could assume the role of the martian and role play eg martain landing on earth and interacting with humans, humans landing on Mars and interacting with aliens.
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I am going to base my lesson on the activity set space and aliens. I loved the idea of discussing what is special about Earth and the discussions this would bring about leading into a whole other area of space and aliens. I would discuss where the aliens might live. Based on which planet we would identify things to factor in for those aliens! We would draw the aliens and using clay make models of the aliens. I would also ask the children to make a profile of this alien: where they are from, likes and dislikes, favourite food, hobbies etc Following on from this I would get the children to create a story using their alien as a character.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I would use the Mars Classroom Resource from Spaceweek.ie for this lesson. An infant lesson on Mars and Martians could focus on introducing basic facts about Mars and encouraging creative exploration of Martians. The lesson could incorporate visual aids, hands-on activities, and storytelling to engage the kids.
Begin with a captivating question like, “Have you ever looked up at the night sky and seen a bright red star? That’s Mars!”
Show pictures or a short video of Mars, highlighting its reddish color and unique surface features like craters and mountains.
Briefly introduce Mars as the “Red Planet” and talk about how it’s different from Earth.
Facts:
Present simple facts about Mars in an age-appropriate way: It’s a planet in our solar system.
It’s called the “Red Planet” because of its rusty-red color.
It has mountains and volcanoes.
It has two small moons.
Interactive activity-Use a globe or a model of the solar system to show where Mars is located relative to Earth.
Tell a short, imaginative story about a trip to Mars, emphasizing the red landscape and the challenges of space travel.
Martians
Brainstorm-Ask children to imagine what Martians might look like. Encourage them to think about their appearance, clothing, and any special abilities they might have.
Provide art supplies like paper, crayons, and markers for children to draw their own Martians.
3D Model-Offer modeling clay(the airdry clay would be good as they could keep their models for continuous play as the week went on) or playdough for children to sculpt their Martian creations.
Show and Tell: Invite children to share their Martian creations and explain their ideas about Martian life.
Other Activities
“Mars Walk”:
Play upbeat music and have children pretend to walk on the lower gravity of Mars, mimicking the way astronauts might move.
“Martian Sounds”:
Play sounds of space or create your own Martian-inspired sound effects and ask children to imitate them.
“Martian Food”:
Discuss what Martians might eat and have children create their own Martian snacks using a variety of healthy foods -
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What would a Martian look like?
Lesson:
– I would invite the children to brainstorm “what would a Martian look like?” in pairs.
– We would then discuss their ideas, justifying and giving reasons for their answers.
– We would brainstorm what a Martian would need to have/ survive on Mars, using photos to explore the planet.
– I would explain to the children that we are going to create our own Martians using clay.
– I would encourage the children to be as imaginative as possible.
– The children will paint their clay in their next lesson.Follow up lessons;
– I would explain to the children they are going to make mini movies with their Martians.
– The children will work in groups to create a script for their movies. The children would use a script template.
– We would use iMovie on the school iPads to produce our Martian movies.
– They will shoot, edit and publish their work and share it on Google Classroom.-
Caoimhe,
I came across this organisation last year: https://fisfilmproject.ie/teacher-resources/
is this where you get your film template?
I haven’t used iMovie, but the same source recommends these possible digital tools.
https://fisfilmproject.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Digital-Storytelling-Filmmaking-Apps-2024-1.pdf
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I think I would use the Stars activity with my First Class.
I would begin by asking them had they ever looked up at a night sky, what they noticed and what they wonder about stars.
I would then get them to engage in Think Pair Share to discuss what they think stars are, and record their answers on a KWL chart.
I would then distribute books, pictures of constellations etc with the groups and encourage them to notice the names and shapes of the constellations. And ask the children why do people make up pictures with the stars.
I would then distribute black paper and chalk and have the children design this own constellation and name it, and write a short story about it.As part 2 of the lesson
I would play the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNuj2GH8xg which expalins what a star is.
I would then share the story of Orion constellation
https://www.unawe.org/resources/education/orion_the_giant_eng/and explain that all constellations look different from different angles. I would encourage the children to make the constellations using black paper straws, and blue tack as described in this module.
We would end the lesson completing the KWL explaining what we have learned about stars
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Niamh,
a Canadian book that I really liked shows the night sky from a dark sky location and from a more light polluted area:
Exploring the Night Sky by Terence Dickinson
One reviewer suggests it for ages 10-15 – so a confident reader can use it on their own.
Another good source of the sky with and without light pollution (and with light pollution makes it easier to see the bright stars that make up constellations) is Stellarium – which we meet in Module 4.
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This is a really well structured and engaging lesson! I love how you begin with inquiry and imagination, then guide the children through hands-on, visual, and storytelling activities. Using the KWL chart to track understanding and combining art, science, and digital resources really supports diverse learners. A truly inclusive and inspiring approach to learning about stars!
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Using the IWB I would display a visual of the Orion constellation. The class would discuss and explore the definition of a constellation. We will discuss and understand that there are many constellations but in today’s lesson we’re exploring the Orion constellation.
The class would discuss what they believe the constellation looks like.
To further the lesson I would read the Julia Donaldson Book – ‘The Smeds and the Smos’. This would support a more visual understanding of life on other planets. The postcard from another planet that I spoke about in module 1 would then be introduced.
I would then ask the students to think pair share as to what their thoughts were regarding the question, would the Orion constellation look the same from planet earth as it does if I postcard came from planet Smed.
To use enquiry based learning I would tell the students using an A3 piece of paper they can either draw, use cubes, balls etc to make the Orion constellation. Once this is completed the groups must stand at the left of their desk, this is the view from planet earth. They will discuss what Orion looks like from this view. They will then move to the right of the desk and decide if the view from planet earth and planet Smed is the same or different.
To conclude the lesson in our circle we will discuss their findings and conclude that what we see in the sky from planet earth is from our point of view and that the view from another planet wouldn’t see the same pattern.
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This is a great approach. I like how you’re weaving enquiry-based learning and storytelling together using The Smeds and the Smoos. That’s such a lovely book for sparking imagination and making the idea of space and other planets more real for pupils.
The Think-Pair-Share strategy gives children time to process and verbalise their thinking before jumping into the next part of the task .I also love how you’ve used movement and positioning around the desk to help the children explore perspective. This really helps to develop spatial awareness and abstract thinking .
I hadn’t thought of linking constellations with perspective in such a concrete way before, but I’d love to try this activity too!
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Design a Martian- for Junior Infants..
I would engage the pupils by showing them a picture of Mars and asking ‘ If something lived on Mars, what would it look like ?’ . We’d share ideas in groups/pairs and as a class.
We’d then talk about the facts we know about Mars (very cold, thin air, red dust, big rocks, low gravity) and I’d ask “How a Martian might be built to survive there? ”. We’d discuss features a martian might need to have in order to survive.
I would provide play‑dough / junk‑art , pipe cleaners, googly eyes etc for the pupils to create their own martian individually or in pairs.
We would then have a show and tell where each pupils would be prompted to : “Tell the class about one feature and why their Martian needs it.”
In conclusion, I would read the story ‘ Beegu’ by Alex Deacon https://www.st-josephs.sheffield.sch.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=2345&type=pdf and we could compare and contrast our martians and the one depicted in the book.
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Lots and lots of stars:
I will be working predominantly with EAL children who have very limited English in a Deis Junior School. I will be endeavouring to teach them some of the vocabulary around stars and space, and some of the simpler concepts to assist them in being better able to interact with learning around the theme of space in their mainstream classrooms. My lesson would go as follows:I will show the children photographs of the night sky and ask ‘what do you see?’ I will elicit and reinforce ‘star’. I will then turn off the lights and use a torch to teach the word ‘light’ and link the words – ‘stars give light’. I will use gesture to teach the following words, having the children copy the words and gestures
-stars (move fingers on open hands)
-sky (point up)
-night (pretend to sleep)
-light (mime torch)
-many (spread arms wide)I would then read ‘Stars ‘by Mary Lyn Ray. I know parts of it will be challenging for the children but it is a beautiful book that I think they would enjoy and would reinforce much of the vocabulary.
We would then make our own night sky art using splatter painting screens on black card, which I would display and encourage the children to enjoy and comment on each other’s artwork.
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I find stars fascinating and having lived in Dublin most of my life I loved nothing more than visits to Wexford beach side over the summer months to see the stars so clearly in the sky with no light pollution etc. A simple way to consider stars looking different in different locations.
I’d start looking at the Stars Activity by showing a variety of videos of stars from a variety of viewpoints – urban/ suburban/ space/sky etc and see what comparisons and contrasts the children can make.
I’d encourage the children to discuss what they see, what patterns, shapes, colours, number of stars etc. Get them to use ‘I wonder…statements’.
I’d then buddy up with a senior class to get them both to explore creating their own constellation together using a choice of the wool or straw technique.
I feel peer paired activity would work well with this kind of activity and the children will naturally extend their learning together.
This kind of activity might work well for a stem showcase in which children and parents can come together and review the star constellation from a selection of view points physically and giving children an opportunity to share their achieved learning experiences.
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Kim – you might use Stellarium (introduced in Module 4) for the starry night sky with different light pollution levels. Material from the various Dark Sky organisations might be useful too.
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The Space and Aliens activity set is an excellent way to combine science, literacy, and creativity in an engaging and inclusive way. I would begin by showing a short animated video or picture book about an alien landing on Earth. This would spark curiosity and activate imagination. I’d then pose the inquiry question: “What would an alien need to survive on Earth?” or “What might their planet be like?”
Pupils would then brainstorm in groups and create their own alien characters, deciding on key details like where they live, how they communicate, what they eat, and what their planet looks like. To ensure inclusion, pupils could draw, use voice recordings, or write simple descriptions with sentence starters. We would then use Book Creator or Seesaw for pupils to present their aliens in digital format—allowing for multiple means of expression.
This activity encourages oral language, collaboration, imagination, and digital storytelling, all while subtly building scientific thinking around life in space. It’s ideal for supporting diverse learners and allows every child to contribute in a way that suits their strengths.
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I again found this module very helpful. I particularly enjoyed the you tube clips to inform teachers eg How many stars?
I will be using the ESERO 19 Activity ‘Special life’.
I would start with a discussion about life on Earth.What life is there? Plants, animals ect Can we sort oc categorise these? If people lived on another planet what would you like to show them of life on Earth? I would suggest creating a picture that you would send to these humans all about life on Earth. Children create their pictures using A4 paper and colouring pencils.
Circle Time: Children take turns to describe their drawings to the group, the group must try to figure out what is in the picture before the picture is revealed. It might be nice to use a timer here …can you figure it out before the timer runs out? or children can choose to act out their drawing instead of describing it (differentiation) I have a creature , it is a mammal, it has 4 legs and a very long neck etc. Continue till each child has a turn.
We would then have a whole class discussion. This an be followed up by children creating their own image of what an alien might look like. This might be a nice activity for group work , give some prompts eg can your alien see?how? Does it have eyes? How many?Where are they? How will it move, eat, sit etc-
Shona,
I like that you have adapted the straightforward activity that is suitable for infants to your own needs with 1st and 2nd class students.
I have used a picture of 6 different items and ask the children “Is it alive?” You could use actual items too. The items I chose were:
- plastic spider
- a flowering plant
- a dog
- a seed
- a burning candle
- a baby
Lots of discussion about how we know if something is alive or not!
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The activity set that I would like to teach with my class would be the one about Space and Aliens. I would begin with the wonderful story called ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. Then I would ask the children to design their own Aliens. We would discuss the pictures and they could tell us about any special features or talents that the Aliens have. The beauty of this is that there’s no wrong or right answer. The next lesson would involve the children making models of their Aliens using play doh or clay and paint. There are lots of opportunities to link these activities with English and maths lessons and I think it is a topic that would spark a lot of interest and enthusiasm from the children. They could let their imaginations run wild and be as creative as they want. I’m excited to use this activity set at some stage over the next few years.
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Activity: Space and Aliens
I would start the topic off by discussing words we that we think of when we hear the word alien. I would make a mindmap or KWL chart with them to find out where their knowledge is at the start of the theme. I would then read the story the Smeeds and the Smoods by Julia Donaldson.
After reading we would add more words to our brainstorm. I would then design an alien with the help of the children on the whiteboard by sketching it or using canvas AI image generator.
I would then task the children with creating their own alien. They would start with a paper and pencil, we would then extend it to making it with playdough and perhaps every air dried clay. I would also input them into Canva to generate some images from their descriptions to see how they compare to the children’s own sketches.-
Thanks for the suggestion of using Canva – I’ve not explored it too much.
A less-tech option might be to have small groups of children try to draw each other’s aliens from a verbal description – it would probably be a lot slower, but promotes both active listening and clear descriptions. Depending on the age of the children, teacher could be the one describing the aliens. If two or more aliens were drawn on the same bit of paper, plenty of ‘bigger, smaller, on the left, to the right’… maths language could be used.
Edit – i went back and tried Canva. It cannot count!!
Prompt: a cartoon friendly alien with seven eyes and bright green skin
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Activity set: Space and Aliens
Begin with a circle discussion
“Have you ever heard the word ‘alien’ ?” “What does it mean?” “What might aliens look like?” ” how might they speak?” “Would they be very different to us?” “Would they have feelings like us/ families like us?”Read the book Beegu by Alexis Deacon. This is an excellent quality picture book for critical thinking and book talk. Beegu is a small female alien who has crashed on earth. She tries to find a friend and a way home.
Allow frequent pauses for discussion:
“Why is Beegu talking to the tree?”
” why does her speech bubble have strange symbols in it and not letters or words?”
“What do you think her language sounds like?”
“How does Beegu feel here?”At the end have a reflection and discussion. Children discuss their favourite part, the feelings the story evokes, what they would do if lost or if they met an alien .
Finally children can design and make their own aliens following a discussion about what they might look like. What if they lived on a hot/cold/windy/ watery planet etc. Children can draw their designs and then use a range of materials; playdough, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, matchsticks, card, feathers etc to make their aliens.
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Fiona,
I really like your questions about Beegu – I’m smitten with the alien and love the language that Beegu uses.
The key to bring the science is for the children to match the conditions to the alien – and I like that you have listed the possible conditions
What if they lived on a hot/cold/windy/ watery planet etc.
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I would base my activity around space and aliens.
I think I would begin my lesson by reading the book Aliens love Underpants by Claire Freedman. The illustrations in the book would provide a stimulus for talking about aliens and help when asking the children to describe the aliens.
I would then ask the pupils to draw a picture of an alien, hiding it from their partner. Their partner would then describe their alien using descriptive words ( link with narrative genre) and ask the other pupil to draw based on descriptions given. This is integrating both art and literacy.
Coming together as a class, it would be a nice idea to ask the pupils where they would recommend their alien to visit based on their favourite areas in their locality/ favourite places in Dublin or the world. I would ask the pupils to give reasons for their recommendations, integrating persuasive writing into the lesson. This can be done orally or in written form depending on the level of the class.
Finally, as junior classes tend to really enjoy using playdoh, I would ask them to create their own alien and share their creations with the class.
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The activity I would base my lesson on is the Activity Set – Special Life.
I would begin the lesson by asking the children to think about what makes Earth special. Using prompts such as family, animals, plants, food, etc., I would encourage them to share some of their favourite things about life on Earth. Each child would then draw a picture on a square piece of paper, which we would later combine to create a collaborative class mural titled “Our Special Planet”.
I would then read the story “My Alien and Me” by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. After the story, we would have a class discussion about what Earth might look like to an alien visitor and what they would show an alien friend.
The children could then draw their own alien. I would give prompts for them to consider such as what shape and colour is it, how many arms, legs and eyes does it have, etc. They could give their alien a name. We would then have a Show and Tell circle activity where the children could present and describe their alien creations to the class.
This lesson provides lots of opportunities for cross curricular integration.
Art: Children build their alien using play-dough or clay.
STEM: In small groups, children design and build a spaceship using blocks, cardboard, Mobilo, Magna-Tiles or Lego.
Oral Language: Children listen to and discuss the poem “Id Like to Meet an Alien” by Ken Nesbitt.
Literacy: Children create a class book by writing about or drawing pictures of what they would show an alien visitor to their class.
Drama: In groups, children create a role-play showing an alien around their class and things they like to do for fun.-
Audrey,
thanks for sharing the recommendation of a new to me book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIxj5qpYbfQ
and poem: https://poetry4kids.com/poems/id-like-to-meet-an-alien/
they make super connections to the theme of Special Life.
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My Alien and me is the perfect book for exploring this unit on Space and Aliens. I think I would use it as my Literacy text when completing this unit with my class. Love the idea of using it as a stimulus for art also. I would also try to use tier two words from this book that tie in to the theme of ‘Special Life’ to increase vocabulary.
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The activity set I would choose is Stars.
Learning objectives:
1. Recognise stars in the sky
2. Understand that stars are far away and give off light
3. Identify the sun as a star.
4. Use language related to night, stars and space.Circle Time:
Have you ever seen stars in the sky? What do stars look like? When do we see them? talk about how stars come out at night, they twinkle and they are far away. I will also explain that the sun is also a star.Story and song: I will read the book “How do you catch a star” by Oliver Jeffers and sing the song Twinkle Twinkle little star. We will use hand actions to make it more interactive.
Starry sky craft: Children will create their own night sky by sticking stars on to black paper. They can also draw or add in moons and planets depending on the ability of the child.
We will then have “Challenge time” where we recap the simple facts of the lesson but in a fun way as they have to challenge me to see who can remember the most facts. eg. Stars shine in the night sky. They are very far away, they come out when its dark and the sun is a star too.
To finish the lesson I would involve the parents so as a homework activity children have to look out their window at night with their parents to see can they find and stars. Parents will be encouraged to talk to their child about stars or do a short bedtime star-spotting game.-
Niamh & Eimear,
I do like your activity(s) with mixes of story, song, discussion and craft. It might be possible to add in a sprinkle of science if you look at why we don’t always see stars, because of light pollution.
This video might be a bit much for Jnr Inf, but I have used it with older classes:
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Stars Activity Set (3rd Class)
Stars are a topic that always excites children. Many of them already know the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and they love talking about the night sky. To start this lesson with my 3rd Class, I would ask the children: “What do you see in the sky at night?” and “Have you ever seen stars?” I would write their ideas on the board to build on their knowledge.
Next, I would read How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. Before reading, I would ask: “Why do you think someone might want to catch a star?” After the story, we would talk about how stars look, when we see them, and if the sun is a star too.
Then, we would do the “Lots and lots of stars” activity using marbles to show just how many stars there are in the sky. This would help them understand that stars are too many to count—even more than the marbles in a big jar!
To finish, we would create star art by flicking paint or glitter on dark paper to make our own night skies. The children could also design their own constellations and name them. This activity brings science and creativity together in a fun, hands-on way that children really enjoy.
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Looking at the Plough and the Stars in two different ways was fascinating as it was such an active learning experience. It would be ideal in third to fourth class.
I would open the lesson with Coldplay Skyful of Stars and then we could use Coggle to explore our current knowlege of the stars and if they had any prior knowledge of the Plough.
It is a great way to integrate maths into an SESE lesson and give practical use of measures in action.
We could paint our stars with glow in the dark paint and experience a class full of handmade Ploughs! -
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Teaching space to Juniors: Lesson 3
Act Set: Stars
I would use the material provided on this module re drawing your own constellation. I think the children would really enjoy this.
The night sky is really a source of wonder for children and adults alike. The resource provided gives great ideas: I used to be a saucepan …. now I am a…….
Though the course suggests that the making of the star lantern is for older children I think in small groups this would enhance the lesson for the children. I love the idea of making a constellation of their own imagination. Children have an enormous suitcase of imagination and it wold be really interesting to allow them to open this up and see what they would do with this.
Music and Drama can be so easily brought into this lesson. There are so many songs about the stars not least the old favourite Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!!!!!!
Dance and interpretative dance could also feature in this lesson.
Drama: There are so many possibilities of exploring their creations through Drama. I would place the children in small groups and allow them the time to create their own story around their imaginative constellation!
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Helen,
for more songs about stars, check this list created by teachers from previous iterations of this course:
Song Suggestions:
The Planet Song for Kids https://youtu.be/mQrlgH97v94
Sesame Street: I don’t want to live on the Moon https://youtu.be/kIq8jLj5TzU
Story Bots https://youtu.be/ZHAqT4hXnMw
What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
https://youtu.be/2nGKqH26xlg
Reach for the Stars by S Club Seven https://youtu.be/50kP4S0peAs
Stars, from Finding Neverland by Gary Barlow & Eliot Kennedy
https://youtu.be/mG8La7PxgO8
The Sky’s the Limit by Nik Kershaw https://youtu.be/RL_rYCgn6uk
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) by Don McLean
https://youtu.be/4wrNFDxCRzU (also covered by Ellie Goulding –
https://youtu.be/C3_spbo8eVc) linked to the art of Vincent Van Gogh
(https://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starrynightlyrics.html)
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I absolutely love this idea and would definitely use it with my Senior Infant class! It’s such a fun and imaginative way to introduce the Space and Aliens theme, and I know the children would be so excited by it. Starting with a story or video is a great way to spark curiosity, and the discussion encourages language and creative thinking. I especially love the idea of the different stations, each one offers a hands-on, playful way to explore the topic. The role-play and alien language areas are brilliant for drama and oral language, and the moon rocks are perfect for playful maths.
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I Pick Space ad Aliens for my assignment.
Firstly, I would use the ESERO document “Special Life in Space”. I would talk to the children about Space and about how there are different planets. I would talk to them about the fact that we live on earth but as far as we know there is no life on the other planets. We would have discussion about what if there was life on the other planets. We would then discuss if there was life on other planets and they visited Earth, what would we like to show them. I would encourage the children to draw a picture of what they would like to show the aliens and to keep it a secret. Whem all of the children are finished, I would ask them to act out their special things from Earth and the other children would have to guess what they had drawn. I would then move to the Space.ie document on Mars and I would encourage the children to think about what an alien would look like and to sketch it out. We would then use modelling clay and various other resources to create a 3D alien. -
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I would use the activity pack on Space and Aliens. I think children would really enjoy speculating about life on other planets and aliens always intrigue and interest them. I would use the Special Life on Earth pack and start by asking students what makes Earth special. Let them think of animals, plants, or places they love on Earth. They can draw pictures of these. Then, use the drama activity from the booklet where students act out their chosen object or animal, and others guess what it is. This helps build creativity and confidence.
I would use the Mars Resource Booklet to teach about the children more about Mars. There are fun classroom activities like building a Mars rover, learning how astronauts explore Mars, or comparing Earth and Mars. I would do a Nature Scavenger Hunt with my class. We would go on a walk in the school grounds where children look for signs of life—bugs, plants, birds. Use this as a starting point to discuss what all living things need to survive (air, water, food, shelter). I would then get them to discuss how important our planet is as it can sustain life. As a class we would complete a ‘Protecting Our Planet Pledge’. After learning about Earth’s uniqueness, students can create posters with simple actions they can take to help the planet (recycling, saving water, planting trees). For art students can create a ‘Mars Model Creation’ Give students clay or paper-mâché to make their own model Mars landscapes. Add features like volcanoes or craters and discuss what makes Mars different from Earth. Once dry, the models can be painted reddish-brown to look like the Martian surface -
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Michelle,
there are a few organisations that have “protect the planet” pledges – will you use one of them?
https://www.climateactionproject.org/bic/pledge-for-the-planet
which has this guide
WWF has https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/make-a-pledge-for-the-planet
This Irish resource looks more suitable for second level students: https://www.youthworkireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/My-Planet-My-Pledge-Activity-Pack-Print.pdf
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Here are some activities I enjoyed with 1st class.
This is just a rough outline of them however they work well for a mixed ability and needs group.
Activity 1: Star Gazing Drawing
What to do: Ask children to look at the night sky (or a star picture if indoors) and draw what they see.
Materials: Crayons, dark blue paper, star stickers or white pencils.
Learning Goal: Identify stars and practice observation skills.Activity 2: Make Your Own Constellation
What to do: Give kids black paper and star stickers to create their own star pattern.
Extension: Let them name their constellation and make up a story about it.
Learning Goal: Understand constellations and develop creativity.Activity 3: 🎵 Twinkle Twinkle Star Dance
What to do: Sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” with simple hand motions or create a short “star dance.”
Learning Goal: Connect music and movement with space learning.Activity 4: Star Sorting Game
What to do: Use cut-outs of stars in different sizes and colors. Ask students to sort them by size or color.
Learning Goal: Practice sorting and categorizing skills. -
Here are some activities I enjoyed with 1st class.
This is just a rough outline of them however they work well for a mixed ability and needs group.
Activity 1: Star Gazing Drawing
What to do: Ask children to look at the night sky (or a star picture if indoors) and draw what they see.
Materials: Crayons, dark blue paper, star stickers or white pencils.
Learning Goal: Identify stars and practice observation skills.Activity 2: Make Your Own Constellation
What to do: Give kids black paper and star stickers to create their own star pattern.
Extension: Let them name their constellation and make up a story about it.
Learning Goal: Understand constellations and develop creativity.Activity 3: 🎵 Twinkle Twinkle Star Dance
What to do: Sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” with simple hand motions or create a short “star dance.”
Learning Goal: Connect music and movement with space learning.Activity 4: Star Sorting Game
What to do: Use cut-outs of stars in different sizes and colors. Ask students to sort them by size or color.
Learning Goal: Practice sorting and categorizing skills.-
Jayne,
do you start this in the winter months? If so – it’s great to actually get outside and see the dark sky so early. (I’m aware that not everyone likes it being dark before dinner!)
You can give out simple star charts to slightly older children to help them locate the brighter stars that are visible. One that I really like, and is free for educational use, is issued at the start of each month from Skymaps.com
Here is the July map: https://skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn2507.pdf
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For this assignment, I have chosen to use the Stars activity set in my classroom. I find the topic of stars endlessly fascinating, and I believe young children will be equally captivated by the wonder of the night sky. To introduce the topic, I would begin by showing the Peppa Pig episode titled ‘Stars’ as a way to spark curiosity and prompt discussion. I would then ask the children to share what they already know about stars and encourage them to draw what they think a star looks like. These drawings would be set aside for comparison later.
To engage the class further, we would make predictions about how many stars might exist in the sky. Using jars and marbles, each group would visually represent their estimations. We would then explore the Essero discussion sheet in small groups, looking at real star imagery. Afterward, children would revisit and possibly revise their original predictions and drawings. I would use a handful of sand to initiate a thought-provoking discussion—are there more stars in the sky or grains of sand in the world?
To continue building on their learning, we would read Our Stars by Anne Rockwell and listen to the StoryBots song ‘I’m a Star.’ At home, children would be asked to go star-spotting in their gardens and bring back their observations. We would also recycle toilet paper rolls to make star lanterns, creating constellation patterns by poking holes into them with adult supervision.
To add a creative twist, I would incorporate a version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and encourage the children to predict its meaning before listening. This helps to build anticipation and deepen understanding. Finally, we’d wrap up the lesson with an art activity, using dark paper, paint, and glitter to create a starry night scene. I would also invite students to invent their own constellations and share the stories behind them. This combination of storytelling, science, art, and exploration provides a rich, multi-sensory learning experience that I believe children will both enjoy and remember.
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Activity set: stars
1.Introduction: I would use a visual of a picture of a starlit night sky for the children to view and prompt discussion. I think I would use something factual from ESA’s satellite images, but Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ could be used too if it integrated into Art lessons/ themes in other subjects, etc.
2. Discussion: Discuss the pictures and do a KWL/ Mind Map with the class to see what they already know about stars, what they want to learn about them-jot down any questions they have about stars.
3. Hands-on Activities: Make a Star Constellation-they could use the plough template in the activity from this module. https://teachnet.ie/ej/pdf/dpsm_class_activity_the_plough.pdf or they could make their own using construction straws and play dough.
5. Integrated learning: They can write poems, stories based on stars or create artwork based on the star picture used as a visual aid/ prompt.
6. Digital Learning: Allow the children to investigate the Stellarium apps on the iPad. The Stellarium app could be shown by teacher on the IWB first of how to use it/ by using a QR code to share with the class etc. This may only work for 1st/ 2nd class rather than infant level.
7. Conclusion: To finish the lesson by summarizing what they have learned about stars-finishing their KWL Chart for what they’ve learned and name a few constellations that they found out about.-
Vera,
it could be nice to connect this to either Space Week (always 4-10 October), or International Dark Sky Week (which will be held in 13-18 April 2026).
The sky will be darker earlier in October, so that might tip it to that time of the year. The children could observe the setting sun and wait to see the first star.
For Cork, Dublin and Galway. There’s a 10 min or so difference from the east coast to the west coast, due to the size of Ireland.
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Begin with a simple question ‘What do you see in the night sky?’Show pictures or read a story about stars to spark curiosity. Explain that stars are big balls of hot gas, very far away and they shine in the sky at night. In a darkened room let children observe star patterns using torches and pinhole constellations. Ask; What shape do you see? / Do stars move? Create constellations with stickers or chalk on black paper, encouraging imaginative names. Add a movement element by having children become stars and form shapes on the floor. Use glitter, fairy lights to stimulate a starry sky in the classroom. Reinforce learning with songs or rhymes for example Twinkle, twinkle, and a class discussion. This activity promotes observation, imagination, early astronomy concepts and inquiry based thinking in a playful, age-appropriate way.
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Space and Aliens
Children love the idea and are fascinated by aliens and as a result I’ve always found it is one topic that really engages the children no matter what class group you are teaching.
If I was doing this topic I would get the children to ‘Design and Make an Alien’ and get them to incorporate their aliens into a short Stop Motion Video.
The children will work in groups of 3/4. Each child will make their own alien.
Stimulus to lesson will be a discussion about aliens, what they perceive an alien to look like and discuss cartoons/films they have seen about aliens.
The pupils will then sketch their alien and feed back to the class their design ideas etc. Once completed they will use plasticine to create a 3-D model of their alien. They can add extras scuch as googley eyes, pipe cleaner arms etc.
Once complete the children will work in their groups to create a shop video in Stop Motion Studio. They can include extras such as drawn backdrops of outerspace, planets, spaceship, astronauts etc. If using the paid version of Stop Motion they can ass narration, sound effects etc.
Each group will show their video on the IWB and will take questions and feedback from their peers-
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Catherine,
I’m not familiar with Stop Motion Video, and unfortunately
states
INFO
The free mobile version of Stop Motion Studio offers many features. For advanced tools, consider upgrading to the PRO version. Please note, a trial or free version is not available for Windows or macOS
I’m just not great at using my mobile as a tool!
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I would use the Stars activity set. I would show the children a video of the night sky and ask them what they see, what they notice and what they wonder about the stars. I would use the universe in a box resource to explore the idea of constellations. I would give the children a match up activity so that they could make their own constellations and show them 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 from universe in a box to show them samples. I would explore the sun as a star and ask them to research this and present their findings to the class. I would use the make a star lantern activity where the children would explore the concept of stars, light and constellation. I think it would be lovely to introduce the stargazing activity as a homework task, I could send home a pair of binoculars each night in a space bag and the children can observe the night sky with a parent. They can note their findings and report back to the class the following day. It would be nice for each child to create their own star based on the knowledge they have gained and we could make our own constellation display for the classroom. We can later add on bubble facts as we learn more, particularly about the milky way.
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Caitlin,
binoculars are particularly nice for observing the Moon in the daytime, just be sure that the children don’t spin around and view the Sun!
Jupiter and Saturn are great in binoculars too, and in September/ October they are both well placed, with Saturn at opposition – ie directly opposite the Sun in the sky, so rising at sunset, visible all night and setting at sunrise.
Jupiter
Improving morning planet reaching 51° altitude on 30 Sept. Near Wasat 6 & 7 Sept.Saturn
Well presented this month, opposition on 21 Sept with a peak altitude around 34°.Source: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/astronomy-guide-viewing-planets-night-sky
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I would explore Space and Aliens in the infant classes and would try to incorporate maths into the lesson as discussed in the module. My lesson would be as follows:
Curriculum Areas: SESE (Science/Geography), Maths, Oral Language, Visual Arts
Theme: Space and AliensSESE: Living Things / Environmental Awareness
Maths: Number, Pattern & Algebra
Language: Oral Language – Describing & Predicting
Art: Drawing & Colour
By the end of the lesson, children will be able to:
Identify basic elements of space (planets, stars, aliens, spaceships).
Use mathematical skills to count and sort alien features.
Recognise, extend, and create patterns.
Use imaginative thinking and language to describe alien creatures.
Create their own alien using art materials and math-based instructions.
Lesson Outline:
1. Introduction – Space Talk
Begin with a story or video clip about space (e.g., Zoom to the Moon! or Aliens Love Underpants).Ask: “What do you think lives in space?” – Prompt imaginative thinking.
Introduce simple space terms: planet, star, rocket, alien.
2. Maths & Alien Discovery
Activity 1: Alien Feature CountShow the class a picture of different aliens
Count features together:
“How many eyes does this alien have?”
“Can we find the alien with 4 arms?”
“Who has the most legs?”
Activity 2: Alien Patterns Game
Show patterns (AB, AAB, ABB) using alien features:
e.g., One-eyed, two-eyed, one-eyed, two-eyed…
Ask them to continue or create their own patterns using cut-out alien body parts
3. Art & Maths Integration – Design Your Own Alien
Provide each child with a template of an alien body outline
Give maths based drawing instructions such as:
“Draw 3 eyes on your alien.”
“Add 4 spots on its tummy.”
“Give your alien 2 arms and 2 legs.”
“Put 1 star on its head.”
Let the children colour and decorate their creations
4. Language Development – Alien Show & Tell
Ask children to describe their alien to the class or in pairs:“My alien has 3 eyes and loves to eat stars!”
“It can fly to the moon and has rainbow legs!”
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The activity set I’d like to teach would be “space and aliens”. I think it will really capture the imaginations of my senior infants next year. I would start by introducing the picture book “Aliens love underpants”. It’s a fun and silly book with colourful illustrations. The alien’s obsession with all things underpants makes it an engaging way to start the lesson: ask questions like “What do you think the story is about?”, “Have you ever heard of aliens?” “Where do aliens live?” A follow up to the story might be “Think-Pair-Share” activity based on what they would do if they met an alien. A potential drama activity would be to ask the children to pretend they are going to Alien school on another planet. Remember to walk and talk like aliens. How would you greet each other? As an art activity, pupils could create their own alien in a media of their choice.
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I choose to do a lesson about stars. We would begin by talking about what stars are – tiny lights in the night sky that are really big and far away. We’d read a fun picture book about stars and look at photos of the night sky. Then we’ll learn that stars sometimes make patterns in the sky called constellations. We’ll talk about famous ones like the Big Dipper or Orion, using simple star maps and stories to help the children imagine what they look like.
To keep things fun and engaging, we’ll play a quick game where the children find hidden stars around the classroom. We’ll talk about how people long ago used the stars to tell stories and find their way.
To finish, each child will use crayons and dark paper to draw their own constellation, giving it a name and telling the class what it might represent.
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One of my favourite books to explore the theme of stars with infants is How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. It’s a lovely & simple story that captures children’s imagination and opens up conversations around space, curiosity, and dreaming big. It’s a perfect way to introduce the concept of stars in a relatable and engaging way.
Following this story, I plan to link in a hands-on numeracy activity: “Counting the Stars” using jars filled with marbles or counters. It’s a great contrast to the boy’s wish for just one star, helping children understand that the sky holds countless stars an exciting way to introduce early estimation and number sense.
For visual arts, I’ll guide the children in creating their own night skies, inspired by the illustrations in the book. We’ll use dark paper and splatter white and silver paint to mimic a starry night. Each child will also design their own “special star” the one they would most like to catch, bringing a personal and imaginative element to the activity.
I also plan to incorporate oral language and drama, encouraging the children to retell or re-enact parts of the story, or even imagine what they would do if they caught a star themselves.
This book lends itself so naturally to integration across literacy, numeracy, art, and early science, and I found that this module helped me see even more ways to build meaningful cross-curricular links from a single, well chosen story and integrating ideas from this course
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Katie,
what a lovely way to connect multiple aspects of the curriculum into this outline.
A science connection might be on the shape of stars – we draw them as ★☆ – but are they really that shape?
Look at stars in the night sky – the bright ones might be twinkling -which makes us see the pointy bits coming out from the single dot.
If you have a laser pointer you can demonstrate what is going on:
https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/scintillating-little-star
and children might wonder if it makes a difference how hot the plate is, could this be tried with a candle? what if the laser pointer is higher? or lower … etc
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The activity I would use is the ‘stars’ activity set. I teach Early Start which is preschool unit in a primary school. We would loosely teach the concept of day and night, the moon, the sun and the stars. I would teach the songs ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ and ‘star light star bright’ throughout the week. Then I would show the children a handful of marbles and ask them if there are more marbles than stars. I would place the marbles in a jar. Then I would show a jar with more marbles and would pass around the jar, asking again are there more stars that would fill the jar or more marbles? I would explain there are actually lots more stars in the sky and we can’t actually count them, there are more stars than grains of sand on all of the beaches. I would ask questions to prompt dicusssion: What does a star look like? When can you see them? is the sun a star? does the sun give us light? We would look at the picture of the starry sky and discuss what we can see. The children would then paint a starry scene using paint, a fine comb and toothbrush. We usually do sand play once a week so I would refer back to the fact that there are more grains of sand than stars.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
I would choose space and aliens as I feel like it is such a fun topic and the younger children love getting creative and really using their imaginations when discussing aliens. I would introduce the topic by reading the book ‘Aliens love underpants’. In pairs/groups the children would think about questions such as What is the story about?, Why do you think the aliens like underpants?, Describe what the aliens might look like. The children would then feedback to the rest of the class/group. I feel like there are so many cross curricular links that can be made with this topic. Literacy-infants could sequence the story using picture cards, Art- the children could design their own aliens with matching underpants, Drama- the children could role-play as characters from the story using the underpants they created during the art lesson. There are so many great learning opportunities that can come from the topic space and aliens.
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The Stars
The activity would commence with the sharing of a story or poem about stars to engage the children’s imagination. Subsequently, I would provide materials such as glow-in-the-dark stars, star stickers, or paper cut-outs, allowing children to create their own representations of the night sky.
Children would have the opportunity to explore various patterns or shapes with the stars, fostering creativity and enhancing fine motor skills. Additionally, we could discuss the twinkling of stars and how they differ from the Sun, thereby introducing basic scientific concepts using simple language. Throughout the activity, I would pose questions such as, “What do you observe in the sky?” or “Can you form a star shape?” to encourage observation and promote language development.
This lesson combines storytelling, sensory play, and creativity, ensuring that young learners remain engaged while simultaneously supporting their early science and language skills.
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I would use the “Stars, Seeing Star! Looking at the Plough in Two Different Ways” activity to spark curiosity and introduce children to observational astronomy. This activity not only encourages students to look up and engage with the night sky but also deepens their understanding of how cultural and scientific perspectives can coexist. In my classroom, I would begin with a short storytelling session featuring different cultural interpretations of the Plough — such as its representation as a plough here in Ireland, a bear in many Native American traditions, or a wagon in German folklore.
Following this, students would engage in a hands-on star-mapping activity using star charts or the app Stellarium. They would track the Plough’s position over time and note changes in visibility. For homework or as a digital extension, students could record their own observations using mobile apps and take night-sky photos where possible.The idea of children exploring the night sky at home with parents is one that really appeals to me and I feel that parents would love the activity too. It connects science with culture, mythology, and geography, helping children see that science is not isolated but influenced by human perception and history. Children could present their findings through digital posters or short videos, fostering not just knowledge, but creativity and ownership. This activity encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and an appreciation of the vastness of the world above us at night.
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Kevin,
if you want to track the Plough over the course of a night, you might want to look at this resource that was created for informal group use.
https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Plough-Clock.pdf
It outlines how to make a Plough Clock, where the angle of the Plough to the horizon at a certain time of year is linked to the time of night. You need a strong three-d visualisation of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun to make sense of it!
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The Stars,
To explore the concept of stars
Read “How to Catch a Star” aloud or play a video version.
Ask open questions:
What did the boy want to do?
What do you think stars really are?
Why do you think he wanted one?
Did he give up?
Exploration (10–15 mins)
Science Talk: What are stars?Show real photos of stars and constellations.
Explain simply: “Stars are burning balls of gas very far away in space.”
Introduce vocabulary: constellation, night sky, telescope, space
Creative Writing
Writing Prompt: “If I caught a star…”Model a simple sentence or short story:
“If I caught a star, I would keep it in a jar and talk to it every night.”
Art Activity
Make Your Own Star SceneUse black/blue paper and chalk to create a night sky.
Add foil/tissue paper stars or draw with crayons.
Children share their writing or artwork with the class.
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The activity I would use is Space and Aliens – Special Life.
Children are always fascinated by aliens – do they exist, what do they look like.
I feel this lesson on Special Life can be integrated well cross curricular. I would start by reminding the children of the different planets, maybe revise the planet song from module two and discuss does anyone live on these planets. Explore in group whats special about our planet Earth and then reflect back to the class.
The children would then begin drawing a special feature of Earth remembering to keep it private to incorporate the drama aspect. After the children will act out their special feature from Earth and we will discuss why these are special.
The children will then follow up with a drawing of what they think an alien might look like. This could be extended to use play dough or even clay to create an alien.
The children could complete some writing on their alien, working on descriptive writing and adjectives they could write character profiles and describe their aliens.
I feel you could also integrate this lesson with Geography and natural environments, exploring what planets might be like and drawing a planet for their alien to live on.
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Eimear,
I’d recommend again the gorgeous art of the exoplanet bureau from NASA:
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/exoplanet-travel-bureau/?intent=021and the similar variant from our Solar System: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/visions-of-the-future/
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I would use the special life activity with my class as it is perfectly pitched for infants and offers multiple opportunities for integration across the curriculum.
It would be perfect for Earth Day as the beginning of the lesson is a discussion about “What is Special about Earth? which links to SESE especially Geography and Science. As this is very abstract, I would show a video such as “EARTH DAY: 10 Facts about Our Planet. Kids Academy” or “On This Earth | Earth Day Song for Kids | Jack Hartmann” to help the kids generate ideas. Kids could then draw what they think is special about Earth (Visual arts) and act it out (Drama) for the other kids to guess what it is.
Next children would brainstorm features of humans and in a think, pair, share activity would discuss the question “If there were living beings on other planets- what might they look like?” Draw up a visual chart comparing human features to those an alien might have. This links with literacy.
Next pupils would make models of their aliens using modelling clay and fabric and fibre materials (visual art). They would present them to the class and then as a class we could categorise the aliens based on observable features such as colour and/or number/length of hands/feet/eyes/ears etc. (Numeracy)
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The lesson I would do and have done with my senior infant class would be on stars. I would begin with some inquiry based questions to promote interest and conversation eg. What are stars? When do we see stars? Can we touch a star?
I often read the book “How to catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers at this point of the lesson or I may have read it earlier in the week.
I then use a little hands on activity to futher progress the lesson eg. a torch and black card with holes punched through it. Shine into a dark corner and ask the children what they see. Does it look like sars in the sky?
Using child friendly language I explain that a star is a really big ball of gas that is very very far away from us and also tell the children that the sun is actually a star that looks big because it is closest to us. (They always love this fact)
As an extention activity, I like to create a night sky scene for art with the children.
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Brid,
the make the “Sun is big because it is close” really clear, I sometimes hold up my thumb, and position it near my eye, block out the head of a child on the other side of the room. I then say “my thumb is bigger than your head!”
They disagree – so I tell them to try it with their thumb and my head!
This always reminds me of a Canadian comedy show, where one character would “crush heads” – at least until he met the “face squasher”
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For Module 3, I selected the Stars activity set to introduce pupils to constellations and how humans have made sense of the night sky across cultures and time. I plan to use this as a springboard for both scientific understanding and creative expression.
We will begin by exploring the question: “Why do stars seem to form patterns?” I’ll use a simple star projector or an interactive whiteboard display to show different constellations and encourage pupils to spot their own shapes and create new ones. Pupils will then design their own constellations on black card using chalk or stickers, and write short myths or stories to explain them—linking science with literacy and storytelling.
We will discuss how sailors and farmers historically used the stars, tying the lesson to history and geography. The inquiry process will involve prediction (What might you see in the sky?), observation (What patterns do you notice?), and reflection (Why did people create stories about the stars?).
This activity invites curiosity while developing critical thinking and creativity. It also reinforces the idea that science is a human endeavour shaped by wonder and imagination. I see this as a cross-curricular opportunity that integrates SESE, English, Visual Arts, and SPHE through collaboration and discussion.
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The Stars
I would begin by using the book, How to Catch a Star, by Oliver Jeffers . Following on from that, I would ask,
“Have you ever looked up at the sky at night? What do you see?”Show pictures of the night sky. Discuss:
“Those tiny lights are called stars.” Then I would follow on with a question. What are stars?
Explain simply: “Stars are huge balls of hot glowing gases, far away from Earth. They look tiny because they are very far.” We would discuss that the sun is a star. I would show a picture of the Sun:
“The Sun is our closest star. It looks big because it’s near us.” We would discuss – When do we see stars?
I would explain why stars appear at night (because the Sun’s light is too bright in the daytime).As a visual & interactive activity, I would do the -Starry Sky Activity:
Turn off the lights, use the dark cloth and a torch behind it to create “stars.”
Let children take turns shining the torch and finding “stars.”
OR Star Hunt: Give each child a star cut-out. Ask them to draw what their star might look like in the sky. Another alternative would be to show a short animated video about stars (e.g., StoryBots – “Stars” or similar).
In conclusion, I would see what the children have learned by asking questions:What are stars?
What is the Sun?
When do we see stars?
A follow on lesson would be to make a plough as described in this module , from the UNAwE classroom resource booklet . (Esero 13) -
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I would definitely use the ‘Draw Your Own Constellation’ activity in my classroom. It is very similar to, and could be used as an extension of an art activity whereby the children draw a simply black dot or blob in the middle of a page and then use their imaginations to create an image around it. It leads to all sorts of ideas like a dogs face (the dot is the nose), a car (it’s a tyre), etc.
For the ‘Draw Your Own Constellation’ activity I think I would begin by showing the children some images of stars in the sky and asking if anyone can make out any pictures, like is commonly done with clouds. I would invite children to ome to the board and demonstrate what they see to the rest of the class. Then, I would introduce the word ‘constellation’ and inform the children that we have in fact been creating our own!
After this, the children would receive their ‘Draw Your Own Constellation’ worksheets and be encouraged to both draw, and discuss their ideas with those at their tables. Once they were all completed, we would admire and discuss everyones work before looking at images of some famous constellations in our night sky.
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Activity: Space and Aliens (Junior Infants)
For my Junior Infant class, I selected the Space and Aliens activity set because it sparks imagination while gently introducing early space concepts. At this age, curiosity and creativity are vital, and this activity provided a playful yet purposeful context for learning.
We would began with a storybook about an alien visiting Earth, which would immediately captured the children’s attention. This leds into a whole-class discussion: “What do you think aliens look like? Where do they live?” The ideas were incredibly creative, from aliens with jelly arms to planets made of chocolate!
Next, we would make our own alien craft using playdough, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and recycled materials. Each child creates their own alien and gave it a name, describing what planet it came from and how it travels through space. This was a wonderful way to encourage oral language and expressive storytelling.
We then turn our classroom role-play corner into a space station. The children “launched” their aliens into space, used cardboard boxes as rockets, and wore tinfoil helmets. This dramatic play supported cross-curricular learning across language, art, and SESE.
To wrap up the unit, we recorded a short video of each child introducing their alien, which we shared with parents through Seesaw. This activity was not only fun but also provided rich opportunities for creativity, vocabulary development, and early scientific thinking about other planets and space travel.
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I love how you are bringing your alien creations into your free play area. Its a great idea to set up a small world corner and allow pupils to play with their models. They could create different areas for each of the 8 planets throughout the room, allowing them to use the vocabulary learned in a lesson on planets.
I can imagine how much fun they would have building rocket ships and bringing their alien to visit all the other planets. Aliens could even offer visitors tours of their planet when they arrive, teaching the alien visitor about the location of the Planet, what conditions are like there etc. Kids would have so much fun!
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I have chosen to teach the Aliens activity.
It will follow on nicely from the planets lesson, from the last module and will use the same stimulus book, The Smeds and the Smoos, but thsi time focusing on the alien characters rather than the planets they visited.
I will facilitate group and whole class discussion about the alien characters, leading to a discussion about fictional and non fiction characters.
I will elicit from pupils that no one has discovered aliens. We will complete a drama activity- a concsious alley where one side has to argue for the existence of aliens and the other side argues against their existence.
Following this pupils will be asked to pick a planet- revising their knowledge of the planet names from the previous planet lesson, and create an illustration of what they think an akien from that planet would look like.
Further art lessons could include building a construction, fabric and fibre or clay representation of their alien.
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Activity set: stars
I have learned so much in this module regarding how to approach the area of stars in such a fun and interactive way. Including the primary science activities creating the plough two different ways. I also loved some of the forum ideas that we have been able to see including using jars and music again.
As I have mentioned previously I have a small class of 6 children on the autism spectrum that are all of varying learning abilities and styles, however visual and musical are always a great way to learn for all. So I would begin with introducing a storybots song about stars (they love storybots!) and then discuss and make visuals to represent same. I will definitely also complete the art ideas of looking at the plough but after I use the jar and marbles to estimate the stars in the sky. We are completing attention autism currently also so I would incorporate stars and an umbrella as a sensory lesson as well as making it with play dough or no mess sand and make a midnight blue shaving foam sensory table to add our sensory stars to. I would bring the sensory experience on by turning off all the lights and getting my sons stars night light to give exposure and experience to same while communicating to home to focus on key words and developing these experiences where possible at home also.
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Breda,
I love your ideas and it’s such a lovely way to create this lesson in an Autism class. Children love playing with foam and it’s all so sensory. I love the idea about the shaving foam sensory table to include the sensory stars. There’s so much learning in that for the children. Such a lovely idea.
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I would start my lesson with reading Julia Donaldson “Smeds and Smoos”. I have the two main character teddies at home and I would bring these in for the children to investigate. We would use the story to discuss the two different families of aliens. In the story and the families visit different planets. We would discuss the different planets and how the aliens on each planet were different/alike, how the planet was different/alike. The children then could make their own alien using playdough, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom poms, feathers etc.
Will link with SPHE on friendship/differences : what makes a good friend, how friends can have similarities and differences, what to do when someone didn’t want to play with someone else. Get the children to say one nice thing about their desk partner. Link with PE to do an alien freeze game based on what the smeds and smoos do. Link with maths to do smed and smoo counting. -
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For this reflection I am going to discuss the Activity set stars.
To excite the children to learn about stars I will bring a star projector that I have at home into school. I will make sure the classroom is dark with lights off and blinds down. Children can lay on the floor and view the stars that are projected onto their classroom ceiling.
Following this activity we will engage in a whole class discussion on what we know about stars and what we should like to know about stars.I like how Maths and Science skills were integrated in this module and think that this activity set provides ample opportunity to develop maths chat. I would set up three stations for the children.
Station 1: counting stars: children will work in pairs to count stars that I have stuck on black sheets of paper.
Station 2: Star constellations: children will view a variety of star constellations and discuss what they see. I will include the star constellation creation templates at this station.
Station 3: children will make their own 3D plough constellation. A great tip suggested in this module was to use pre-cut straws and play dough for this activity with younger children.Once children have completed all three stations I will read the picture book ‘How to Cathch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers.
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I used a similar activity to “Lots and lots of stars” in a Senior Infants class during an art and science lesson where we explored the stars and planets. We began by talking about how many stars there are in the sky and whether there could be more stars than different things around the classroom. I took suggestions from around the class and this really helped get them engaged as they were trying to think of bug quantities.
We then looked at images of starry skies and discussed when we see stars, how they give off light, and that the Sun is actually a star too. For the art activity, the children used black paper to represent the night sky. They then dipped toothbrushes in white paint and scattered tiny dots across the page using splatter techniques to create stars.
We also used circular objects from around the classroom like cups, lids, empty containers, and pritt sticks to print colourful planets, making each galaxy unique in their own way.
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Adam,
I like how you have incorporated the planet art into a starry backdrop. I once did the toothbrush – paint star scape, and the group then decided how to arrange each individual starscape to make a giant galaxy – which had more stars in the middle, fewer at the edges etc. We used one of the Andromeda images as inspiration. (source: https://esahubble.org/images/heic2501a/)
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Activity: Stars (Sensory Activity)
In my autism classroom, sensory-based learning is essential to ensure access, engagement, and understanding. For the “Stars” activity, I would create a multi-sensory exploration space themed around night-time and stars. We would begin by dimming the lights and projecting stars on the ceiling using a galaxy lamp or LED star projector to create a calming and immersive environment.
Each child would receive a textured star to hold—some soft, some glittery, some rough—allowing them to engage through touch. We would sing a familiar calming song such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and use Lámh signs or visuals to support language and participation.
To foster inquiry, I would pose a simple question: Where do we see stars? using PECS cards or AAC. Then, we would explore a sensory tray filled with dark fabric, star cut-outs, and small lights. Learners could match, sort, or hide stars based on interest and ability.
To finish, each child would create their own star using foil, paint, or stickers, encouraging self-expression and fine motor work.
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Hi Eva, I really enjoyed your description of the multi-sensory approach for your autism Class. Having worked with autism classes before myself, the use of the LED projector in a darkened room would be a fantastic activity and would be sure to capture their interest and foster great discussion on the topic.
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Chosen Activity: Space and Aliens
I would choose this topic as I know it is one that my previous classes have loved and engaged really well with. I find the Claire Freedman Aliens in underpants books are a brilliant stimulus for lessons on both Space and Aliens and one the children thoroughly enjoy. I would introduce the lesson by reading one of these books together as a class and then engage the children in a discussion about alien characteristics-considering whether they all look alike or not and further explore possible similarities or differences.
Following this I would task the children with creating their own aliens- using materials of their choice. I would ensure to emphasise the importance of creativity and uniqueness in their creations and reassure them that their is no correct way to create their alien. Once we were all finished we would engage in a discussion and discuss their creations referencing similarities or differences along the way. As an extension to this lesson, I would ask the children to write a short description of their alien- it’s name, it’s personality, where it is from or anything important that we need to know about their alien and present it to the rest of the class.
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Space and Aliens:
I would use the activities based on space and aliens as I feel as an infants teacher, the children would thoroughly enjoy it and it offers so many opportunities for integration with other curricular areas such as Aistear, oral language, Art and drama and lots of opportunities to use their imagination.
To begin the lesson, I would use a story from the “Aliens in Underpants” series by Claire Freedman as a way to discuss the aliens features. This book can also be used to develop math concepts.. How many eyes do the aliens have? Use of more/less.
I would ask them to draw their own alien and give it a name. I would allow time for the children to introduce their alien and this would allow for the development of language such as smooth, rough,scaly,furry,small, big and so on.
The next step is to create their alien and there is great opportunities for integration with science and art. They can construct their aliens from a variety of materials.. I would ask questions such as: what materials will keep our alien dry if they arrive in Ireland and it is raining?
At the end of the lesson children are given the opportunity to look at each others aliens and compare them. There is a great opportunity here for mathematical language.. who has the most/least arms? How many more arms has alien 1 than alien 2 ect -
When teaching the Space and Aliens theme to my Junior Infants, I would begin with the story Alien Tea on Planet Zum Zee by Tony Mitton. I love this story! It’s a fun, rhyming book that captures the children’s imaginations and introduces them to the idea of aliens and space in a playful way. After reading, we’d talk about what we might see or eat if we visited another planet. I’d then guide the children in creating their own aliens using playdough, collage materials, or junk art, encouraging creativity and discussion around features like “How many eyes does your alien have?” or “What planet is it from?” We could even host our own “alien tea party,” tasting space-themed snacks and practicing polite conversation. This activity supports oral language, imaginative play, and fine motor skills, while also introducing early science concepts in an engaging and age-appropriate way. The children love it as much as I do!
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Space and Aliens.
I would read a storybook that I have in my classroom ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ We would also watch some child friendly videos about space following it to further arose their interest on the topic.
We would then have a discussion where we talk about what they think aliens might look like, where they might live, and what it would be like to visit space. In circle time I’d encourage them to share their ideas and questions. We would listen to all their thoughts and imaginations.
We would engage in activities after circle time. We would do an art table: they can create/design aliens with various art materials.
We would do a role play table; Astronauts plan a space mission/ communicate with ground control/explore a new planet and meet friendly aliens/Aliens teach astronauts how to live on their planet.We would do a construction table: using items from recycling bins they can construct different shape rockets.
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Mera – there is a communication themed resource from ESERO, that models satellite communication, we reference it in this spaceweek resource: https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/UPDATED-Space-Week-primary-CPD-resource-1.pdf.pdf
This could add a new layer of science inquiry as a next step.
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I would choose the stars activity set as fun lesson for a junior infant class. Starting out I would do a KWL chart to gather prior knowledge on the topic. I would then introduce the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to capture interest and to sing during the start of the lesson. Next, I would then read a picture book like “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers to spark imagination and curiosity. After a brief discussion about what stars are and when we see them, we would explore a simple visual using black card with holes, shinning the light through to show the different stars. Having shown them different patterns, I would then give the children cotton buds and cotton wool to create and represent their own stary night sky effect/ They could then present their work to the class and describe what they created, encouraging them to link in some new words and language learnt during the topic.
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I would focus on the activity set stars.
To introduce my lesson on Stars I would start by watching Bluey, Season 2, Episode 26 Sleeptime. Then I would use the ESERO lesson Lots and Lots of Stars. I would split the lesson into two lessons for my class because they are quite young. We would use marbles to compare the amount of stars in the sky. Eventually coming to the conclusion that we would need a computer to count all the stars because there are so many.
We would discuss the following questions “Who has seen stars before?, What do stars look like? Could you see lots of stars or some stars? Do stars give light? What time of day do you usually see the stars? Does anyone know a really big star that we can see during the day?” I would use the discussion card provided the the lesson to support the children to understand that we see stars best on a clear night and that stars give out light. Also that the sun is a star and it give out enough light for the day and the light from the sun is so bright we can’t see the other stars.
We would conclude the lesson by reading How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.
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Hi Fiona,
I love your lesson idea! Using Bluey is such a clever and age-appropriate way to spark curiosity about stars, ‘Sleepytime’ is such a beautiful episode. Splitting the ESERO lesson into two parts makes a lot of sense for younger learners, and the marble activity sounds like a great way to make the concept of “lots and lots” of stars more concrete. I also really like how you’re using discussion to guide understanding, especially introducing the Sun as a star. Ending with How to Catch a Star ties everything together so nicely. Thanks for sharing!
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The Activity Set I would use in the classroom is Space and Aliens. It is a fantastic topic to use with SESE subjects, particularly geography. I also think it would be a brilliant follow on to the Multicultural Moon activity that was presented to us in Module 2 as a continuation in exploring and celebrating other cultures and their role in the classroom and society as a whole.
I would use the ESERO 19 activity ‘What makes the Earth so special?’ to link engage the children with the concept of life on Earth, why it is special, but also how life would look on other planets. I think the varied responses that would undoubtedly come up would be a fantastic segue into celebrating how different countries and cultures are different but equally brilliant, with different outlooks and customs, and how they contribute to improving society, following on nicely from the Multicultural Moon activity.
I would then use the Mars Classroom resource from spaceweek.ie in conjunction with Visual Arts to allow children to explore their imagination and to let them create the stories and customs of their Martian land. With older classes, I might also introduce, when discussing how our Martians look, the concept that alien life might not take the form of a carbon lifeform like a human or alien that is traditionally depicted in sci-fi films and shows, and implore the children to subsequently discuss and hypothesize what an ‘alien’ might look like. Extrapolating to senior classes, the concept of an ‘alien’ being a term used throughout history to describe someone from a different country could help to form discussion around immigration, state identity and why it is important to treat people with dignity and respect regardless of background.
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Patrick, What a fantastic, thoughtful approach! Your use of the Space and Aliens theme to connect SESE, cultural awareness, and imaginative exploration is so creative. I especially love how you link the science of life on Earth to meaningful discussions around diversity, identity, and empathy. A brilliant, cross-curricular and inclusive learning experience!
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I love the idea of using the Peppa Pig episode “Stars” is a fantastic way to introduce the children to the topic of “Stars” and would be a fabulous introduction to the topic. Also having a container with sand is a great idea to not only help the children to physically visualise the concept but also from a sensory perspective.
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I would focus on the activity set “Stars” with Junior Infants.
Introduction
I would begin the lesson by asking the children what can they see in the sky during the day and at night time? I would then tell them that the night sky is full of tiny twinkling lights which we call “stars”.
I would then show them a large picture on the interactive board of a night sky full of twinkling stars. Emphasising that some stars are bigger and brighter than others. I would then turn off the lights in the classroom and use a projector that can project stars onto the ceiling in the classroom, inviting the children to look up at the stars and try to count them. I would then ask the children if they think it is possible to count all the stars in the sky? This approach would allow the children to visualise the expansiveness of space and how the stars are positioned.
Development
I would then read the story “How to Catch a Star?” by Oliver Jeffers. As I read this story, I would encourage the children to point to the star and tell me it’s colour and invite the children to then tell me their favourite part of the story.
I would then give the children a black sheet of card and invite the children to add star shapes to the black night sky background. Allowing the children to create their own night sky covered in stars.
Conclusion
I would finish the lesson by encouraging the children to listen and sing along to the song “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star”.-
Rachael,
I’d be careful using language like ” some stars are bigger and brighter than others” unless you clearly distinguish between what we see and what is actually out there.
Stars appear as tiny points of light – some are brighter than others, and may appear more twinkly, but shouldn’t appear bigger to the eye.
Children might notice that some stars appear bigger in photographs – but that is because more light came from the star, so made a bigger shape on the detector.
Source: https://www.eso.org/public/italy/images/potw1428a/?lang
A follow up activity (a next step) could be to wonder why some stars are brighter than others, and play with torches at different distances in a large dark hall – noticing that far away torches look dimmer than nearby torches.
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Stars
Although I am fascinated stars , I feel it could be quite an abstract topic to teach to young children. The children need a hook or a prompt to engage their interest as the stars while beautiful are still so far away and intangible.
I would begin my lesson with a Junior Class by reading the story ‘Guess How Much I Love You ‘by Sam Mc Bratney. In this story Little Nutbrown Bear tries to quantify how much he loves his father Big Nutbrown Bear in terms of distance .i.e. Up to the Moon and back. It is a beautiful story and would be a great way to introduce space, the moon and the stars. I would encourage the children to think of other things that are in space such as The stars and the Planets and the children could add their own new endings to the story e.g.’I love you up to the moon and the stars and back’!
I would teach at least three lesson on stars. Some the following content would be included.
The children discuss what stars are and what they see when they look into the sky at night.
The children draw their concept of what stars look like. We could draw the typical star that appears over the crib at Christmas marking the birth of Jesus.
Look at Van Gogh’s starry night picture and discuss the stars and perhaps why Van Gogh painted this picture.
Discuss patterns or shapes in the sky. Have the children ever seen shapes that look like something? Introduce the word constellation. Show the children the plough which is similar to a saucepan.
We could discuss how we might map out the shape of the plough…using cubes, bricks,using ourselves! Would we need more children from another class to make the entire shape of The Plough?
With an older class we can link learning about the stars with The Irish Legends and the Irish language which has beautiful names for the stars. Bealach na Bó Finne which means the Way of the White Cow and stems from a legend about a cow with endless milk.
Use ‘Skyview Lite’ App with older classes. By holding their phones up to the sky using this app, they can identity which constellation it is!
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Grainne,
I love everything about your stars learning sequence. You’ve taken the abstract concept and really thought about ways to use the idea of stars with young children – great stuff.
May I share this with the wider public as part of our space week resources?
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Introduction – Start with a song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. From there have a discussion on the song and what you see in the sky at night. Here we can discuss what can be seen at night in the sky and how the sky does be so bright at night. Also, a discussion on “Has anybody every counted the stars at night?”
From there, as a two teacher school, have a whole school collaboration and have the whole school divided into equal groups of all class levels, where the groups then work to make the plough. Great teamwork and school interaction between all levels here, and a lovely whole school activity.
From there then, the classes would go back to their own groupings a make a collage of a starry night sky, as an Art activity.
As a follow-on, children would be encouraged to look out for stars that night and see if it is quite possible to count the stars in the sky.
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I would start the lesson with Star Wars theme music. We would then discuss the galaxy and constellations, creating our own join the dots on white boards and experimenting with names. We would then discuss the word alien and see what the children know. We will compare and contrast different aliens from famous children’s films. After giving examples of some, children will then design their own Aliens using clay. We would use a brainstorm of a outline of an alien to decide what kind of physical features it might have, eyes, arms, legs etc. Using clay and modeling wire children will create figure of clay model and then use sculpting tools to add detail. Children will decide on a name and origin planet. Figures will be painted when dry. Each child will get a chance to present their alien to the class in a hot seat activity and give a detailed background of their home planet.
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The activity I would choose to use in my classroom is Space and Aliens with the focus on designing an alien
To build the children’s knowledge and engagement I would provide them with some background information on Mars through the use of pictures and video clips. I would encourage the children to discuss this information in their groups and add any of their own knowledge and facts to share with the class
The starter question for the next part of the lesson would be : What would an alien look like?. The children will then predict what they think an alien looks like by drawing/sketching the image they have in mind
I would provide the children with various types of materials. The children would use these materials to design a 3-D model of an alien. When finished the would compare their sketch of an alien to the one the made.
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Using the “Life in Space – Special Life” lesson with a Junior and Senior Infant classroom would be a lovely way to blend imagination, oral language, drama, and early scientific thinking. I’d begin by explaining that Earth is our planet and, as far as we know, we’re the only ones living here, no aliens have been found yet! We would chat about what makes life on Earth special. I’d encourage the children to think of something they’d love to show a visitor from space: this could be animals, nature, toys, or even family.
Each child would secretly draw their “special thing” on A4 paper using crayons or pencils, and then we’d sit in a circle for the acting part. One by one, they’d act out what they drew while others guessed. We’d reflect afterward: Was it easy to guess? What made it hard?
Then, we’d move into the drawing-an-alien activity. We’d brainstorm what aliens might look like and why, then let imaginations run wild with drawing. Children would share their alien creations with the group, explaining features like “three eyes for better seeing” or “wings to fly in space.”
Here is how I would extend on this lesson and explore the theme of ‘Special Life’ or ‘Aliens’ with my class
Role Play Area: Turn the play corner into a “Space Station” or “Alien Visitor Centre” where children can dress up as astronauts or aliens, use recycled materials to build rockets, and pretend to welcome alien guests to Earth.Construction: Provide blocks, tinfoil, tubes, and junk art to design rockets, planets, or alien homes.
Storytelling/Writing: Children could dictate or write a short story about their alien’s adventure on Earth. Add this to a class “Alien Book” with their drawings.
Art Extension: Create clay or playdough aliens, or paint planets using sponges and marbles.
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Esero 19: Special Life:
I like the idea of pupils exploring what is special about life and can see wonderful opportunities to extend this into SPHE and the theme of Myself and being unique and special. It could also be a good starting point for beginnin the exploration of what is special about earth / other planets.
Following on from this lesson, we would explore their ideas of what a Martian might look like?
What adaptations would they need in their bodies to live safely and comfortably in their own special environment?
Would they need more eyes, ears, low body temperatures/high body temperatures and why?
We would use exploring the environment of Mars as a basis for identifying the basic needs of our Martians.
Pupils would begging by sketching and labelling their Martians and their features and functions.
Pupils would then extend their creations into 3D models using air drying clay and later paint them using different paints and/or adding clothing using materials they deem appropriate for a Martian environment.
Pupils would create a digital learning folder to track their learning and progression of thought during the activities.
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Creating an alien is such a fun hands-on activity to complete with the whole group. I would begin my lesson with an exciting story: “You’re astronauts on a mission to explore a new planet!” We would look at pictures of the planets, the stars, and the Moon, discussing what makes space different from the Earth. I would then introduce the idea of aliens and ask the children If creatures lived on other planets, and what might they look like? I would get the children to talk to their partners about this and get them to write down a few specific things they think an alien might have. I would show the children some images to give them further ideas. I would then give them different materials like white boards and markers, playdough, paper and craft materials for the children to explore and create their own aliens. The children would be encouraged to think about how their alien would survive in space and see if they need anything in particular to survive for example big eyes for darkness or extra arms for floating etc. We would finish this lesson with the children presenting their aliens to the class and explaining a bit about their alien.
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Activity Set: Stars
I would focus on gaining the children’s prior knowledge about stars through circle time. We will discuss what they already know about stars and I will explain what constellations are and have they ever seen pictures in the sky by joining the stars. We would sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ together to engage the class.
To link the lesson to art, the children will create their own constellations using black paper and white crayons or chalk. I will show them patterns like the Big Dipper or Orion shown on the Interactive Whiteboard or a projector on the ceiling if possible with the lights dimmed. Then the kids make dots to represent stars and connect them with lines to create their constellation patterns or invent their own star shapes.
I would talk about how people use constellations to tell stories or help find their way. This encourages imagination and listening skills.
To conclude the lesson, the children can share their constellation art with the class and explain their star patterns or stories.-
Ellie,
If you think the children are interested enough, and can think of the 3-d sky as a flat circle, you might look at the Star Wheels from Lawrence Hall of Science, they include this nice – no constellation – version.
https://lawrencehallofscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BlankStarwheel.pdf
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Activity Set : Stars
To introduce this activity, I would display a night sky on the board. Pupils would discuss the picture focusing on the stars, discussing their prior knowledge and sharing their thoughts and opinions about stars.I would then split the class into 6 groups and each group would be given a star card. On the back of the star card, there would be an interesting fact about stars that the pupils read with their group.
After a few minutes, the groups would pass their star card to the next table and read and discuss the new star card on their table.We would then introduce the ‘Starry Sky’ activity, creating a picture of a night sky with stars. When the pupils are finished, in groups they will try and recall some of the facts that they learned from the star cards earlier in the lesson. As a fun concluding activity, the pupils must think of a name for a star in the sky.
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I really like how you’ve structured this activity. Starting with a night sky image is a great way to spark curiosity and get the kids talking. The group work with star cards sounds perfect for encouraging teamwork and sharing interesting facts. Creating a starry sky together and naming stars is a nice, creative way to wrap things up.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
The topic of Aliens is always a big hit with any class I’ve taught, and I love using it to spark imagination and language development with the students. I would start by reading The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers. It’s a lovely story about a boy who meets an alien and helps him get back home, which gets the kids thinking about friendship and kindness.
After the story, we’d chat about what aliens might look like, where they might live, and what they might eat. I’d ask questions like, “What would you do if an alien visited our classroom?” to encourage speaking and storytelling.
Next, we’d sketch out our own versions of aliens, and later in the week we would use those sketches to create our aliens using playdough or junk art. The children could name their alien and share stories about them.
To finish, we’d write a class story together called ‘An alien joined our class today!’.
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The “Life in Space – Special Life” lesson is a brilliant way to weave imagination, science, language, and drama together for Junior and Senior Infants. I’d start by introducing the idea that Earth is our home planet—and so far, it’s the only place we know with life. We’d have a discussion about what makes life here so unique and special. I’d ask the children to think about one thing they’d want to show an alien visitor—this might be a favourite animal, a place in nature, a toy, or even their family.
Each child would quietly draw their chosen “special thing” on A4 paper using crayons or colouring pencils. Then we’d gather in a circle for a drama activity, where each child acts out their drawing while classmates try to guess what it is. Afterward, we’d reflect together—Was it easy to figure out? What clues helped?
Next, we’d dive into the creative world of aliens. We’d brainstorm together: What might an alien look like? Why might it have unusual features? Then, the children would design and draw their own aliens, sharing ideas like “antennas to hear from far away” or “super-long legs to walk on different planets.”
To build on the theme of “Special Life” and aliens, I’d extend this across our Aistear time:
Role Play: Transform the play corner into a space-themed area—like a “Space Station” or “Alien Welcome Centre”—where children dress up, build rockets from recycled materials, and act out meeting visitors from space.
Construction: Provide a range of loose parts like foil, cardboard, and tubes for building rockets, space habitats, or alien worlds.
Writing & Storytelling: Encourage the children to tell or write a short story about their alien coming to Earth. These stories, along with their drawings, would become part of a class-made Alien Adventure Book.
Art Extension: Use clay or playdough to sculpt aliens, or create space-themed art like sponge-painted planets or marble-rolled galaxies.-
Kevin,
your Aistear time planning sounds great! Sponge painted planet sound neat- I’ve not done sponge painting, but if they end up looking like this – how fabulous
https://www.hollandhavenschool.co.uk/science-blog/science-meets-art-sponge-painted-solar-system
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The Activity Set I plan to teach in my Infant Class Room is ‘Stars’.
Introduction: The stimulus I would use for my lesson is the famous painting ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh. I would show the painting to the children and ask them questions like what do you see, what time of day is it?, do you think the colour of the sky is what you picture at night?, how do the swirls and the stars make you feel?
Body of Lesson: Star Fact Finding Mission: Hidden around the class room I would place laminated stars with simple star facts appropriate to the children’s ages for them to find: Stars are made of gas-helium and hydrogen, Our Sun is a star-The Sun is a medium-sized yellow star that provides light and heat to our planet, The Milky Way is our galaxy: Our solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy, which contains hundreds of billions of stars. Stars come in different colors: The color of a star indicates its temperature. Hotter stars are blue or white, while cooler stars are orange or red. The Milky Way is our galaxy. After completing their mission of finding the star facts we would display them and discuss the contents.
Linkage with other subjects:
Art: The children would be given the opportunity to recreate their own Starry Night Picture using chalk pastels and dark blue/black sugar paper.English- Based on the little Rhyme ‘Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight’ make a little Wish Tree with the children providing them each with a little star upon which to write their wish.
Maths- I loved the idea I saw in the forum posts of using sand to visual and compare the amount of stars in the sky to grains of sand on the Earth.
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Ann-Marie,
we used Starry Night as the theme for one of our Space Week Arts explorations – you can see the episode here:
https://www.spaceweek.ie/events/space-art-with-bco-van-gogh/
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I plan to use the ‘Stars’ activity set with my 2nd class to meaningfully combine science and the arts. The UNAWE activities—‘Draw your own constellation’ and ‘I used to be a saucepan, now I am a…’—are ideal for encouraging imaginative thinking alongside scientific exploration. I think these tasks will work well in my classroom, where creativity and storytelling are already central to learning. They will also provide opportunities for rich class discussions about the night sky, constellations, and how people across time have interpreted the stars. I look forward to trying the ‘Make a Star Lantern’ project, which links light, design, and construction in a hands-on way.
Throughout these activities, the children will be developing key scientific skills such as observing, questioning, predicting, and recording. Although finding time within a busy weekly timetable can be a challenge, the cross-curricular nature of the activities allows them to be integrated into both science and visual arts lessons. To extend the learning, I will also include a “Starry Sky” art project, where the children will use paint and pastels to create night sky scenes, inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night, reinforcing both science and creative expression.
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I chose the Stars activity set because it’s a lovely way to introduce children to science in a fun and meaningful way. In my classroom, I would use this activity during a space-themed topic. We could begin by reading a simple story or watching a short video about stars and constellations. Then, I would guide the children in creating their own constellations using black paper, chalk, and star stickers or by connecting dots on worksheets.
We would talk about real constellations like the Big Dipper or Orion, and I would encourage the children to make up their own star patterns and name them. This supports creativity as well as learning about space.
We could even use simple apps or websites to look at the night sky and spot stars from Ireland. I would take photos of their work and record their constellation stories to use as digital records.
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My favourite element of this course is the Stars. I was first introduced to the planets and stars as an educational theme when I studied The Montessori Method of Education. As well as the great sites we have been introduced to in this course, many valuable resources can be found on sites based on Montessori’s work. I am fascinated by how stars and the night sky can be integrated into so many subjects. I will definitely begin my stars lesson with the video based on Francis’s lovely poem Know the Night. Unfortunately few children live in areas where they can see the night sky free of street lights, etc. At least with videos such as this and activities investigating the constellations when they do have opportunities to see the sky it will have meaning for them. An activity which I like is each child investigating his/her zodiac sign. I would initially provide them with a template of the sign – a lion, water bearer, etc. on which they will place the relevant stars . We will develop the lesson in many ways, e.g., mythology associated with their sign. I would further the study of the stars by having the children look at videos of the night sky and then identify the plough. Activities that will make it more meaningful and educational will be some of the activities shown in this course of modelling the constellations in 3 D. I am excited to help my class this year begin their investigations. On the other hand it will be challenging and exciting as I teach in an Irish Medium School, a subject I really love I must say I appreciate the effort make by TeachNet to provide Irish medium material.
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I absolutely love the “Design a Martian” activity—there’s so much scope for imagination while still hitting key learning outcomes in Science and Maths. I’d use this with my junior classes during a Space-themed week, probably linking it to a storybook or video about life on other planets to spark curiosity.
We’d start with a discussion around ‘what do you think aliens look like?’
This is a good video of an illustrator talking to kids that will give you good ideas of how to prompt your students
Firstly I would get them to draw what their alien might look like. Then label it with materials they might use to make their alien.
Then the hands-on bit: using playdough or recycled materials to create their Martians. I’d encourage them to justify features (e.g. “This one has big feet for walking on soft ground”). Afterwards, we’d sort the aliens into families based on shared features—eg – green, antena,
As a follow-up, we might graph the most common alien traits (e.g. number of eyes) for some gentle Maths integration.
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I’d choose an activity based on Space and Aliens. I feel that the younger classes in particular love using their imaginations to come up with characters and enjoy showing their creation to the classes. We could use Oliver Jeffers ‘The Way Back Home’ as an introduction to the lesson and could generate conversation around the topic of aliens. I might then use a narrative mime where the children travel to space and meet an alien and ask them to draw on paper the alien they had visualised.
We could link this to writing by writing a recount of the event or they could write a report on their alien. I would ask them to consider what planet their alien lived on and try and use facts they had learnt about that planet in their writing.
Finally, they could create the alien in 3D using junk art or clay if we were feeling brave!
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I think I would go wth Aliens as my lesson as there is such mystery and interest by all ages with this theme.
I would begin with the lesson on Earth and how it is a ‘special life’.
i would use the globe as a starter prompt; what is this, what can you see, what colours can you see, what are they etc.
I would ask the children in groups to create a chart drawing all the special things which make up our planet such as animals, mountains, food, people, air etc. Some prompting would be needed with the younger classes. We would look at each others chart and ask questions etc or as they lesson said, act out some of these special things.
This lesson would lead nicely on to a lesson about other planets, in particular Mars. I would use a mystery box and put in red chalk (broken up into dust) and an empty water bottle.
This would lead us onto learning a little about Mars and how if differs or is similar to Earth.
I would then get the children to create their own aliens either with playdough, clay or fabric and fibre. They would then tell us a little about their alien like name, food, hobbies etc. I would tell the children to be as creative as they like as it is a mystery to us all…. -
I am inspired by the Space and Aliens activities we learned about in this module. To introduce any science lesson, I like to complete a KWL chart with the children to see what they know and what they would like to learn about regarding the topic.
Then I would ask students what does Mars look like and draw their ideas and colours in the interactive whiteboard. We would then look at a variety of images and videos of Mars and discuss how we could possibly survive there. Students would work in small groups to share their ideas.
I would then give students a piece of paper and ask them to create their own Martians. Students would use an iPad to take a picture of their Martian and upload it to a padlet of all of the class Martians where I would have a background of the planet Mars. If students felt confident enough they could stand up in front of the class and talk about their Martian and how it would survive.
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Hi Michelle,
I really liked your lesson idea—it’s so creative and engaging! The use of the KWL chart is a great way to get the children thinking and involved right from the start. I also thought it was a great idea to let them draw what they think Mars looks like before showing real images—it really encourages imagination and discussion.The Martian activity sounds like so much fun and a great way to get them thinking about survival and adaptation. I also love how you used Padlet to share their creations—it adds a nice digital element and gives everyone a chance to see each other’s work. I’d definitely love to try something like this in my own classroom!
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Activity Set: Stars
I would start the lesson by reading a story about stars to spark curiosity. Two of my favourites are How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers and Laura’s Star by Klaus Baumgart. Both stories offer magical introductions to the idea of stars and can encourage children to think about stars not only as part of the night sky but also as something special and personal.
Following the story, we would engage in a whole-class discussion about stars. I would ask open-ended questions such as “When do we see stars?” and “What do you think stars are made of?” to prompt thinking and conversation. To build on this, I would show a video from YouTube that explains what stars are, where they are found, and why they twinkle in a child-friendly way. This helps introduce basic scientific vocabulary also.
I especially love the constellation-drawing activity shared in this module. After looking at some real-life constellations, I would encourage the children to create their own using black paper, white chalk or stickers, and star-shaped cut-outs. They could either copy an existing constellation or invent one using their imagination. We could then display the children’s constellation artwork on a “Star Gallery” wall alongside key facts we’ve learned about stars. To finish the lesson, we would sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together.
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Activity: Space and Aliens.
In my classroom I usually use ClassDojo as a reward system, which creates an alien character for each child, which they love! I would introduce this topic by saying that today they were going to get to make their character.
I would encourage the children to look at the character and take in the details. I would give them some playdough to make their alien.
Once these are completed I would ask the children about their alien, is it similar to them? What does it like/dislike?
If their alien came to Earth what would it think? What would it like or dilike? What planet is it from? What are the differences between the two planets?
This could link back to a previous lesson on the planets and allow for revision of that topic.
A story would be nice to wind down to this lesson as it could get quite exciting with the characters- Perhaps something like ‘The Smeds and the Smoos.’
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I would use Activity set: Stars.
If I were teaching a Junior class about stars in the sky, I would begin by introducing the idea that stars are giant balls of hot glowing gas, just like our Sun. I’d explain that although they look small and twinkly at night, they’re actually huge and very far away. We would talk about how the stars come out when the sky gets dark, and how amazing it is that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches in the world.
I’d then explain that scientists believe there are over 100 billion stars just in our own galaxy—the Milky Way—and many more galaxies beyond that. We’d also explore the idea that people in different parts of the world see different stars. For example, children living in Australia will see different constellations than children in Ireland. I’d also introduce the fun idea that if we lived on another planet, the sky would look completely different again!
To make the lesson interactive and engaging, I would include the following activities:
Star Spotting Game – I’d show images of constellations and deep space stars and ask the children to guess which we might see from Earth.
Planet Hop – I’d set up different “planet stations” around the classroom, and let the children travel between them. At each one, they could imagine what the sky might look like from that planet and draw it.
Create Your Own Constellation – I’d give the children black paper and star stickers, letting them create and name their own constellation. They could even tell a short story about what it represents.
Throughout the lesson, I’d use visuals, storytelling, and imagination to help bring the concept of stars and space to life in a way that’s age-appropriate and exciting for younger children. I’d finish by encouraging them to go outside one night with their family and try to spot some stars for themselves. -
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Activity Set – Space and Aliens
Class 2nd.
(based on “Special Life lesson)In this lesson, we will explore the concept of life in space and reflect on what makes life on Earth unique and special. We will begin by discussing Earth as our home planet and consider the idea that, as far as current knowledge goes, there are no known life forms on other planets. The children will be encouraged to imagine what they would show to a visitor from another planet—something they believe represents what is most special about life on Earth. Each child will then illustrate their chosen object, place, or living thing on a sheet of A4 paper, working individually and without revealing their drawing to others.
Following this, we will come together in a circle and engage in a drama-based activity. Each child will take turns acting out the subject of their drawing, while their peers try to guess what is being portrayed. This activity will support the development of oral language, expression, and inference skills.
To conclude the lesson, we will discuss the idea of alien life. The children will be asked to imagine and draw what they think an alien might look like. We will then share and discuss these imaginative creations, reinforcing the idea that, although aliens have not been discovered, creativity allows us to explore endless possibilities.
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Stars activity
For this activity the focus should be on engaging activities that tap into young children’s natural curiosity and sense of wonder, while keeping things simple, hands-on, and playful. They have an awareness of stars in space through rhymes and songs like I’m a star (storybots), twinkle twinkle and the star in Christmas nativity plays.
Almost sure there’s a Mariah Carey song called The Star.
I would Introduce the idea of stars in the sky, and engage children in sensory exploration through art egStar constellation
The children would use black paper and small sponges or brushes, white or glow-in-the-dark paint to create their own stars. They could also use their fingers to make star shapes or create constellations. This would Introduce the idea of stars in the sky and once grouped together, how vast it is.Create your own twinkle star.
The children would create their own star using plastic containers,stars, water and glitter. This gives the idea of how a star twinkles. A nice one to take home.Relaxation/Well Being
Use a projector or a light-up starry sky projector to create a calm atmosphere. With the children lying down on a PE mats, dim the lights, and play calming space music as you “watch” the stars twinkle. Encourage the children to relax and pretend they’re floating through space. This would promote mindfulness and relaxation while introducing children to the beauty of the night sky.it might encourage them to look up at sky some night .
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I looked up and found this version of the Mariah Carey song:
https://youtu.be/CziCidR4KcY?si=94U0RxxztIYBHPRB
can you tell me more about the “Create your own twinkle star.
The children would create their own star using plastic containers,stars, water and glitter. This gives the idea of how a star twinkles. A nice one to take home.”would this be like the sensory jars? https://inspirationlaboratories.com/solar-system-sensory-bottle/
There is an activity to look at why stars twinkle – but it uses a laser (I use the little red dot that comes with my projector’s remote control) and a lit candle.
See: https://www.scienceonstage.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SOS_twinkle_star-1.pdf
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I really like the relaxation/wellbeing element to this lesson. As much as it is a learning activity, finishing the lesson with this sense of calm and quiet time could be so beneficial for many children in the class who may not often get this time to ‘be still.’
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The activity set that I would choose is Space and Aliens. I find that the mystery of this topic always excites and engages children and this make it a great theme for Play bases activities.
I would begin the lesson by reading the story “Aliens love underpants”. Children always love this story and it is great for starting discussions on Aliens.
After reading the story we would discuss the book. What happens? What did the aliens look like in the story? What did they travel in? We would discuss other famous aliens- Monsters inc what did the aliens look like in these movies, how many eyes? how many legs? colours? traits? hairy? smooth? etc
I would follow this up by letting the children design and make their own alien. I would provide children with A4 paper and art supplies (crayons, pencils, markers, clay, feathers, pipe cleaners, goggle eyes etc). I would ask the children to design their own alien, encouraging them to use their imagination and what they learned from the story.-
Aoife,
with 1st/2nd class children you could extend the arts activity by asking them to sort the aliens into families / or at least into groups of aliens that might live on the same planet. They could then link the features of the aliens to the type of environment they might live in – and connect that to animals of Earth that they are familiar with.
I make a simple alien with children using pipecleaners, similar to this one:
https://youtu.be/E7lbiq8z_bU?si=RqDQSbvFG9df-qJE
and they are easy to modify:
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The lesson I have chosen is the Lots and lots of stars lesson.
Over two days, Senior Infants will explore the theme of stars and the night sky through discussion, art, movement, and drama. On Day 1, the lesson begins with a circle time activity using marbles in transparent containers to help children understand that there are more stars in the sky than we can easily count. A picture or short video of a starry sky is shown, and the children are asked to describe what they see and whether they have seen stars before. They learn that stars give off light, are visible at night, and that the Sun is also a star. A counting activity follows using star-themed worksheets where children practise counting and writing numbers. The day ends with a movement-based drama game called “Be a Star,” where children pretend to twinkle, glow like the Sun, or hide behind clouds.
On Day 2, the lesson begins with a quick review and a short star-themed warm-up dance. Children then create their own starry sky paintings using toothbrushes and splatter painting techniques, choosing different colours to reflect the variety of real stars. Afterward, they participate in a short space-themed drama where they act out a story about flying through space and meeting stars and planets. The lesson ends with a reflection session where children share their artwork and recall what they learned about stars. Throughout both days, the children engage in hands-on, creative learning while developing their understanding of stars, practising counting, and expressing ideas through movement and art.
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Id start with a story to spark their imaginations. One of my favourites for this theme is Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman ,it’s silly, colourful, and the children love it. After reading, I’d ask, “What do you think aliens are really like?” and “Where might they live in space?” This opens up loads of creative ideas and funny conversations.
Next, I’d show a short, simple video or animation about planets or space travel — just a couple of minutes — to help them picture what space looks like. Then I’d ask: “What would you need to live in space?” and “Could aliens be living on one of these planets?”
Then we’d move into discovery time. I’d set up different areas around the classroom:
Space Station Role Play – with astronaut helmets (made from cardboard boxes), control panels (buttons and dials stuck on cardboard), and walkie-talkies. Children could pretend to talk to aliens or land on a planet! I have this space station made diy for two years and it’s still lasting.
Alien Discovery Table – with mysterious objects: “alien eggs” (water beads in a bowl), “moon rocks” (crumpled foil), and maybe a note from an alien asking for help building a home on Earth.
Construction Area – where children can build their own alien spacecraft or alien house using blocks, Lego, or junk art. I might challenge them: “Can you make a rocket that an alien could travel in?”
Playdough Alien Creation – give children playdough, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and ask them to make their own aliens. They can name them and decide what planet they’re from.To wrap up, we might draw a picture of our alien and write a sentence underneath — or finish with a silly alien dance or song (like “Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon” or make up our own alien chant!
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I love teaching about stars. Always a joyful and engaging experience for infant classes. WE could start with exploring the concept of stars through story, song and an art project. I would create a power point story about the night sky and have the children point out stars during the presentation. Obviously singing the well known Twinkle Twinkle Little Star would help reinforce the theme and assuming most would know this song would encourage whole class participation.
For the art activity we could create our own stary skies with relevant craft materials. The children could then present their works of art to the class or to their partner. This of course provides oppourtunity for discussion, ask questions and wonder and curiosity about the sky and space.
As someone else here pointed out it might be nice to finish our lesson by watching the episode of peppa pig about stars. A great intro lesson on stars.
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I would use this activity in first and second class because it is fun and helps children learn in different ways. We can talk about stars, count them, and even paint them. In first class, I would help the children count the marbles and talk about how many stars there are. I would ask questions like “Have you ever seen the stars?” and “Do they give light?” In second class, the children could do more by themselves, like filling in the worksheet or writing numbers. I really like the painting part – using toothbrushes to make star spots is very creative and exciting for the children. This activity also helps them remember that the Sun is a star and that stars come out at night. It mixes science, art, and maths all in one lesson, which makes it a great way to learn.
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I choose Stars for 1st class.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn what stars and constellations are.
- Recognise and name a few real constellations.
- Design and name their own constellation
Story Time: Choose a simple book about stars, such as How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers .
Short Video: Show a short video about stars and constellations. Introduce words like twinkle, galaxy, cluster, orbit etc.
Discussion: What do you see in the night sky?
Have you ever seen a star or a group of stars that made a shape?
What do you think a constellation is?They create their own constellation. Show examples of real constellations (e.g., Big Dipper). Can use a variety of materials such as paint, playdoh, foil, string, chalk etc on black paper. They name their constellation and explain what it looks like.
To finish. Use an app like Star Walk to look at stars visible from Ireland. -
The area I would like to cover are Stars in the classroom. I love learning more about this topic but also supporting the children’s learning with regards to this topic. I have found that my students in the past loved extending their knowledge of Stars.
I will start the lesson by playing the familiar song ‘Twinkl Twinkle Little Star’. We will sing the song and use actions. We will then discuss what the children think and know about stars. We will share various facts about stars such as what stars look like, what colours they are, constellations and the sun being a star.
I love looking at the stars in the sky at night myself and find it magical so I love doing this activity with the children. We will use glow in the dark paint. The children can paint a night sky on black paper or dark paper. We have a sensory tent that is black. Once their pictures are dry we will look at their paintings in the dark sensory tent. I will give each of the children a cut out of a big star. They will paint them in various glow in the dark colours so they have rainbow stars. They can then stick their star on their night sky picture. We will then view all of our starry night pictures in the sensory tent in groups. The children love this idea and enjoy creating their own sky full of rainbow stars.
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I would use the Stars activity set to help children appreciate the night sky and understand that stars are distant suns. I’d begin by asking them to share what they know about stars and where they think they come from. Then, using a darkened classroom and small torches, we’d simulate stars appearing in the sky. I might use a colander with holes over a torch to project “constellations” on the walls, encouraging the children to spot patterns.
We would then explore real constellations using a star chart or an interactive app. The children could create their own constellation artwork with black paper and chalk or stickers, naming them and telling a story about them.
To connect with science, we’d discuss why stars look smaller than the Sun, linking it to distance. This activity encourages observation, creativity, and storytelling, helping students connect science facts with their own imaginative interpretations of the universe
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To introduce the topic of space and aliens in the classroom, I would begin by reading The Boy Who Went to Mars by Simon James. This engaging story offers a fantastic starting point for discussion about space, imagination and what makes Earth unique. After reading and reflecting on the story with the class, I would bring out a globe and ask the children why they think Earth is such a special place. This would lead into a group activity where children can work together to draw, build or act out things they find special about Earth, such as the presence of animals, plants, air and water. After sharing their work with peers, we would reinforce the idea that Earth is a unique planet. Returning to the story, I would prompt a discussion about Mars, what they think it’s like, what might be found there and what a Martian/alien could be. Together, we’d create a class mind map of ideas about Martians/aliens. The children would then be invited to design and build their own 3D alien models. These aliens could be used for early maths activities such as sorting and classifying by size, colour or number of body parts. I found that the Mars Classroom Resource from Spaceweek.ie was particularly helpful in planning this lesson.
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Thanks for sharing a new to me book suggestion. It appears to have two titles – both “The Boy from Mars” (see: https://youtu.be/h4RYYiSvwLQ?si=-h5aiW9bXZ4bCEax) and “The Boy Who Went to Mars”(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNwvcj1PRs)
The story has no facts about Mars – so the children might want to use another source to feed into their Mars discussion – possibly by using Google Earth set to Mars to show the children what the surface of Mars looks like, or some of the images from the Mars resource.
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My absolute favourite book is ‘How to Catch a Star’ so I would begin my activity by reading this book to my class. I myself love looking at the stars at night and I hope my passion would flourish to the children in my class by the end of the activity. We would then look at ESERO Ireland factsheet on stars as well- ‘How a Star is Born’ – https://www.esa.int/kids/en/learn/Our_Universe/Stars_and_galaxies/Star_birth.
I would introduce the idea of constellations from the story. Give each pupil a simple constellation template such as Orion or The Plough. Trace the constellation dots onto a small square of black card. Using a push pin (with teacher supervision), poke holes where the stars are. Attach the black card to one end of a cardboard tube with tape or a rubber band. Look through the open end towards a light source such as a torch or lamp to see the constellation “light up.” Decorate the tube and experiment with how hole size or distance from the light affects brightness.
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I love how you’ve linked How to Catch a Star with the constellation activity — it’s such a lovely way to blend literacy with science. Starting with a story really draws the children in emotionally and gives them a reason to connect with the night sky. The constellation viewer idea is brilliant too; it’s simple, hands-on, and creates that “wow” moment when they see the stars light up. I think experimenting with hole size and distance from the light adds a great investigative element, encouraging the children to think scientifically while still being creative. It’s also a nice touch that they get to decorate their tubes, making the project feel personal and memorable. I can imagine your passion for stargazing really inspiring your pupils!
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I would like to teach the activity with my children in Junior Infants based on Special Life and Space and Aliens. I would begin this lesson by using a drama activity, where all the children have to pretend to be each planet in space. For example, become small like Mercury, show a storm on Jupiter, make a ring around other people like on Saturn etc. We would then focus on discussing Mars – what it is like as a planet, and the potential it has for special life. We would discuss what this means using the resource https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/19_Special-life.pdf.
Next, I would ask the children to draft pictures of what a Martian might look like. We would combine our questions with knowledge from the Primary Maths Curriculum alongside using Scientific inquiry. For example – what spaces might a Martian’s body be? Circular, square or irregular? How would this help them move, could they roll quickly or would they need feet to help them walk? Would they have a long or short tail and would this be useful or not useful for them? How many arms or legs would they have compared to humans and would this make more sense for them on Mars? What would they need to help them in the heat? Would it help them to have lots of hair or no hair? etc.
After the children had drafted their own Martian, we would decide on all the best features and create one group “Martian” together, on a large roll of paper on the ground. We would play a hotseating activity, giving this martian a name and asking him lots of questions about Mars together. I would also use page 5 of the Space week booklet to help me extend this lesson https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Classroom-Resource-Booklet-Mars.pdf
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I would use the Stars activity set with my 2nd class to spark curiosity about the night sky and introduce basic astronomy concepts. We would begin with Lots and Lots of Stars, discussing how many stars are visible and comparing this to grains of sand. Using a planisphere or printed star maps, the pupils could locate familiar constellations such as the Plough. We’d then move on to Draw Your Own Constellation, encouraging creativity and storytelling by having pupils invent a constellation, name it, and create a short myth about it. This integrates literacy with science while developing spatial awareness. To make the experience hands-on, we could craft simple Star Lanterns to represent their constellations, linking to art and design. Throughout, we would use questioning, prediction, and observation, helping the children understand that constellations are patterns we make from stars and that the stars we see change with the seasons.
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Séan,
would you include a 3-D constellation to show that the constellations we see are based solely on our view of the sky from Earth?
I came across this video that shows what a constellation would look like if we could travel away from the Earth.
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Hello. The activity I would use is the ESERO 13 activity. I think this particular activity would be really suitable to my Junior Infants Classroom. To begin this lesson I would try to peak their interest by showing a video such as the National Geographic ‘A Hundred Million Stars in 3 minutes’ video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VX6Nh6YLYk. We would look at the images in the slides and discuss what we can see. We will talk about all the different shapes and sizes the stars can be and how they can look different in different photos, videos or even in person. I would link this activity to Number in maths by asking the pupils to count example pictures with stars in them or to create a picture of their own and to count their stars or their classmates stars and compare more/less. This would also link nicely into an art lesson. It could also be fun for the children to take a record page home and draw the stars they can see every night before bedtime for 3 nights in a row. This could link us into the topic of constellations for the following week.
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Activity Set: Space and Aliens
Exploring aliens with the infant classes is fantastic as they have a super imagination and show great excitement when engaging with the topic. I will write a letter to the class from an ‘alien’ from another plant to engage the children. I will ask them questions such as “Has anyone ever seen an alien, What do you think aliens look like?, Where do they live, Do you think they are friendly or scary, Why ?”The letter will come with a present of the book Aliens love underpants to give the children a visual of aliens and support their creativity for the task later in the lesson. Using the Mars Classroom Resource Booklet I will set up an activity for the children to create their own alien/Martian using playdoh and different materials such as pipe cleaners, match sticks beads and buttons (they can be easily removed from playdoh). The children will create their own Alien and describe what it looks like/ likes to do. This will incorporate maths language using number, shape, colours ect. The children will have the opportunity to walk around and compare their creations and discuss them further with their peers. -
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Last Easter, our 2nd class classroom was transformed into outer space for our “Space and Aliens” activity. We began with a short discussion about what we already knew about space, planets, and what aliens might look like. The children’s ideas were wild and wonderful—from friendly, rainbow-coloured creatures to tiny, invisible aliens who live in teacups!
Next, I played atmospheric space sounds in the background while we worked. Pupils designed their own alien on paper, gave them names, powers, and favourite foods. Some even created “alien passports”. We then used craft materials—pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and foil—to make small 3D alien models.
To finish, each pupil recorded a short video introducing their alien in character. We played this back to the whole class. The activity encouraged creativity, storytelling, speaking skills, and teamwork, while bringing plenty of laughter and imagination to our day.
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I chose the activity set Space and Aliens for senior infants. To begin the lesson, I would show an image of space and ask the children questions such as ‘What do you think lives in space?’ ‘What does an alien look like?’ We would then read a story together such as ‘There’s an Alien in Your Book’ or ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ to engage the children and open up a discussion about the topic of space and space creatures. I would then play the song ‘Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon’. The children can get up and act like they are flying to space while singing the song. It would then be time to get creative and provide the children with playdough/craft materials to create their own alien. This could then be linked to a literacy lesson where the children would be encourage to write ‘My alien is called ____. It is from planet _____. It eats _____.
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The film Home is absolutely breathtaking, both in its visuals and the powerful message it conveys. The facts it presents are eye-opening, especially when paired with such stunning imagery. Much like David Attenborough’s video from the previous module, the film starts by exploring the Earth’s origins and spends considerable time on that topic. I appreciate how the film is broken into sections, making it easy to show specific clips to students. It’s a wonderful resource for introducing younger audiences to the effects of climate change.
If I were to teach this, I would begin by using it as a Geography or SPHE lesson to explore the Earth’s formation, without bringing up climate change right away. This would allow students to first marvel at the planet’s origins. The film’s transition to the impact of human development feels like a celebration of human innovation, but I think students will be both surprised and likely concerned when they encounter the alarming statistics later on.
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I would use the Activity Set Stars in my classroom. while most of the information in the University in a Box resources are too complicated for younger classes, I think activity 5.1 could be adapted. I would begin with a prompt asking children to say the month of their birthday and ask if they have ever heard of the signs of the zodiac associated with them. Then the wonder where i ask children, I wonder where all of these zodiac signs got their names, This brainstorming could be done in groups and shared with the class afterwards. tp EXPLORE, I would supply a range of different star maps of the different zodiac constellations and the Banderol of the Zodiac form the Uniersity in a box website, and lead them to the question “which part of the sky was my zodiac constellation in when I was born. To conduct the investigation I would position the earth within the banderol of the zodiac with the sun at the centre and get some children to record what constellations could be seen from Earth in January and which could not. I would continue doing this for each month. The investigation is rather teacher led as we are working with a model so I would encourage them to ask follow-up questions.
To TAKE THE NEXT STEP, I would ask children to take turns placing the Sun and Earth in the correct position for todays date an draw the constellation that would be visible in the night sky.
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Lesson Stars: Aimed at 2nd class
I would ask children questions based on the stars to start off the lesson– Have you ever looked up at the night sky? What did you see?
I would have a brief discussion about the night sky, encouraging students to share what they’ve seen or know about stars. Using simple visuals and a story-based approach, students will learn what stars are and how people long ago connected stars into pictures called constellations. I will introduce a few well-known constellations, such as the Big Dipper and Orion, using images and a planetarium video. Students will then engage in a hands-on activity where they connect stars on a worksheet to make a constellation (Like Big Dipper). They can then re create the constellation with chalk/ crayons on black paper to a make a night sky scene. I would read the book There is no place like space to conclude the lesson.
Lesson Stars: Aimed at 2nd class
I would ask children questions based on the stars to start off the lesson– Have you ever looked up at the night sky? What did you see?
I would have a brief discussion about the night sky, encouraging students to share what they’ve seen or know about stars. Using simple visuals and a story-based approach, students will learn what stars are and how people long ago connected stars into pictures called constellations. I will introduce a few well-known constellations, such as the Big Dipper and Orion, using images and a planetarium video. Students will then engage in a hands-on activity where they connect stars on a worksheet to make a constellation (Like Big Dipper). They can then re create the constellation with chalk/ crayons on black paper to a make a night sky scene. I would read the book ‘There is no place like space’ to conclude the lesson.
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Hi Katie, I really like how you’ve structured your stars lesson — starting with open-ended questions is such a great way to spark curiosity and connect to the children’s own experiences. The mix of discussion, visuals, and storytelling really helps to make the topic engaging and accessible for younger learners. I think using a planetarium video alongside well-known constellations like the Big Dipper and Orion will make the night sky feel more real and exciting for them. The hands-on element of recreating constellations with chalk or crayons on black paper is a lovely creative touch, and it’s a great way to reinforce what they’ve learned. Finishing with There Is No Place Like Space ties the lesson together beautifully while adding a fun, literacy-rich element.
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For this module, I would use the “Draw Your Own Constellation” activity from the Stars set. I would begin by showing the children images of well-known constellations, such as the Plough or Orion, and explaining how ancient cultures used the stars for navigation and storytelling. Using black card and chalk or white crayon, children would first recreate a real constellation, then design their own by connecting star “dots” to form a picture. They would name their constellation and create a short myth or story about how it came to be in the sky. This combines science with creativity, language, and art, allowing children to see the stars as both a scientific and cultural phenomenon. By linking the activity to the night sky they might see at home, it encourages observation beyond the classroom and fosters curiosity about astronomy.
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Activity Set: Stars
To begin the lesson on stars, I would first darken the classroom and use a star projector to display a night sky full of twinkling stars on the ceiling. This would create a calm, magical atmosphere and help the children visualise what the sky looks like at night. I would encourage them to lie back and look up, asking questions like, “Can you count all the stars?” and “Do you think some stars are brighter than others?” This would help them start thinking about the size and number of stars in the sky. Following this, I would read the story How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers, pausing at points to ask questions such as “What colour is the star?” or “Do you think you could catch a star?” to keep the children engaged and thinking creatively. After the story, the children would be given black card and star-shaped cut-outs or stickers to create their own night sky pictures, allowing them to express what they saw and imagined. Once the pictures are complete, we would sit together and have a short discussion using guiding questions such as “Have you seen stars before?”, “What do stars look like?”, “Do they give light?”, and “When can we see them?” I would also introduce the idea that the sun is a star, helping them understand that we can’t see other stars during the day because the sun is so bright. To finish the lesson on a gentle and familiar note, the children would be invited to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together. This mix of visual experience, storytelling, creative art, and discussion provides a rich and age-appropriate way for young learners to explore and enjoy the topic of stars.
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I selected the Stars activity set because it offers an engaging way to blend science, creativity, and storytelling. To launch the lesson, I would capture students’ attention with a vivid visual—either a night-sky video or projected star map. We would briefly discuss what stars are and how people have used them for navigation, storytelling, and scientific discovery.
Students would then work in small groups to design their own constellation models. Using dark card, chalk or metallic markers, and glow-in-the-dark stickers, they could replicate an existing constellation or invent one of their own. Each group would research the background of their chosen constellation—its cultural significance, key stars, and position in the sky.
To share learning, the class would host a “Constellation Showcase,” dimming the lights for a planetarium-like effect. This project nurtures curiosity, reinforces spatial awareness, and connects scientific knowledge with human culture in a memorable, hands-on way.
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For my infant classroom, I would adapt the Space and Aliens activity to make it more playful and age-appropriate. We would begin by reading a simple story about space or aliens to spark curiosity. Then, we’d talk about what we already know about space and what we’d like to find out, using a simple KWL chart with pictures. Together, we’d look at real images of Mars and the Mars Rovers, keeping explanations simple—focusing on colors, shapes, and how Mars looks different from Earth. We’d ask, “What would it be like to live there?” and imagine what kind of alien might survive on Mars. Children would then design their own friendly Martian using playdough, drawing, or collage materials. They’d describe their Martians to the class—talking about its features and how it survives. Finally, we’d create a “Martian World” in a corner of the room where all their aliens can live, encouraging imaginative play and storytelling.
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Grace,
I like your focus on Mars, and there are so many great images from Mars, and more coming each day from the rovers and spacecraft that orbit Mars.
A good place to find these images is via Google Earth, set to Mars, where you can “fly” into the images taken by some of the rovers.
Perseverance has its own gallery here.
Curiosity here
From orbit, ESA’s Mars Express has been working for over 20 years!
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Space and Aliens
I would introduce this topic with Aliens Love Underpants book. It is a firm favourite and generates lots of giggles. There’s an Alien in Your Book and Welcome to Alien School are two great books also. Talk about their features and how they travel. Talk about Space and Spaceships.
I think I would focus on this topic over a week and use stations. I would use creative construction to encourage the children to make their own spaceships for when the aliens travel down to Earth. They could sketch their ideas first. Another group could design a new pair of underpants for the aliens (fabric and fibre or simple drawings). Another group could design the planet that they think the alien is from and give it a name. Another group could create their own alien and also give their alien a name. I would love for the children to draw what they would like to do with their alien when they visit Earth. Will you bring them to your football match, will they do grocery shopping with you, will they help you with your homework?
These activities could be stored in a little notebook. A very exciting topic for a very imaginative group of infants.
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Leanne,
I am not familiar with the story ‘Welcome to Alien School’ , but found this resource from Scholastic:
https://shop.scholastic.ie/resources/250184
and long list of suggested ideas from https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/books/welcome-to-alien-school/
I think with this as an engaging starter, the idea of stations over a week makes so much sense – there really are so many ways to take this theme and link to the curriculum, as you have described.
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Using an activity set based on stars to teach junior classes can be both fun and educational. I would begin my lesson by introducing the basic concept of stars— I would explain that they are huge balls of gas in space that give off light and heat. I would use the resources to spark curiosity, including posters, flashcards, star charts, or glow-in-the-dark stickers.
I would continue with a storytelling session about the night sky and constellations. Let the children explore the star map and identify common constellations like the Big Dipper or Orion. Provide them with colouring sheets or connect-the-dot activities that form star patterns.
I would encourage hands-on learning by letting them create their own constellations using stickers on black paper or use a flashlight and pinholes in paper to make star projectors. I would reinforce the learning through songs, videos, or short books about stars. -
I love the idea of using the book ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ as a stimulus for teaching about Space and Aliens. I would also incorporate a lot of study into the planets, especially Mars into this study. I would incorporate ‘play’ and Aistear into this and set up a role-play area where they could dress up as aliens and discover planets in a spaceship. I would leave out junk art and the art box so the children could create their own aliens. I would incorporate creative writing on the topic and the children could also design their own planet! Marla or playdough would be nice at play time also and they could make the planets and aliens.
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Aliens love underpants is a book I read my senior infants every year and it is always a firm favourite with this age group. I will definitely now us it as a stimulus for introducing the topic of space and aliens. I also like the other playful ideas you have mentioned Michelle. I will be incorporating some of them next year. Thanks for sharing.
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I really liked the activity set of Space and Aliens. From experience, children can be so imaginative and creative when speaking about their thoughts on aliens. I think I would focus the introduction of the lesson on the Martian landscape, having photographs of it as well as photographs to contrast Earth’s landscape. I think it would help the children to become more open to creating creatures that would look and sound different to humans. I would ask questions like ‘what colours do you see?” The soil is reddish brown, how is this different to Earth? We would talk about the rocks, the mountains and then move onto greenery like on Earth. Where are the trees? What would it be like to live here? I would hope to elicit the word ‘desert’ by the end of the discussion. Then we would discuss what an alien would look like. What would they sound like? Would they have a different language? How would they move? This discussion would be enabled by looking at the landscape they could live on.
I would then distribute modelling clay, along with pipe cleaners, googly eyes, etc. Each child could present their alien figure after it had been dried and painted after the following lesson.
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Niamh,
comparing Mars to the Earth is great idea. Children may not have too much idea of what Mars is like to begin with, but by looking at images or Google Mars from Google Earth they can describe what they see that is different to what they can see out the window of the school.
A nice way to develop their descriptive geographic language, and accesses the geographic skill:
“A sense of place
• become aware of, explore and discuss some of the distinctive human and
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Activity: Stars.
I have an all-boys, sport-loving class who I think would love to learn about stars in a way that connects to their interests outside of school. We would start by using online planetarium software or a star map to explore the night sky indoors. I would ask, “What do you notice about the stars?” and record their ideas.
To link with sport, I would explain how constellations can be thought of like “teams” of stars, each with its own shape, name, and story. The boys would design their own “star teams” using black paper, chalk, and star stickers, naming them after their favourite sports, players, or team mascots such as Shamrock Rovers, Barcelona, Ronaldo etc. We would then compare these with real constellations and learn how people around the world have told stories about the stars for thousands of years. This activity would develop observation, questioning, recording, and communication traits while making astronomy relevant and enjoyable. It would also keep the boys in my class actively engaged while learning about the world around them. -
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I have chosen the special life activity but adapted it for my own class 5th and 6th given that they and I find the idea of aliens to be really intriguing.
I would begin the lesson by asking the children what makes life on earth possible expecting to receive the standard answers of oxygen, water, food etc. I would then begin to show them some pictures of various earth environments with significantly harsher conditions and point out that life can thrive in these as well such as deserts or deep in the ocean.
I would then provide the children with a description of another fictional planet providing information around resources and other creatures and temperature etc.
The children would then be put in groups to create and design a creature who could survive in this environment. The groups would then present their findings to one another.
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The topic of ‘Stars’ lends itself so easy to cross curricular integration and a full days activities could be devoted to the topic.
I would begin the lesson by using an image and a poem ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’ (full version prinatablee.com) as a basis for discussion. I would elicit what the pupils know about stars and record this on a KWL chart. I would then play a video to add to the pupils knowledge.
Oral language- brainstorming words in relation to Stars/ Space. I spy…
I would do a fine motor activity where the pupils would have to connect the stars with their pencil and perhaps cut out some stars if time allows.
I would do a Maths activity from ‘Lots and Lots of stars’ lesson where the pupils have to first estimate the amount of stars in a jar and then do a counting and Matching activity.
I would show the pupils ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh. We would then do a painting lesson.
WE would complete the L part of the KWL chart to conclude the lesson.
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I plan to use the stars and aliens activities in my senior infants classroom. We will begin with the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as an engaging introduction, followed by a short discussion about planets. Next, I will lead the children in a drama and movement activity where we imagine climbing into our rockets and flying to different planets. The children will act out how it feels to be on each planet. The final planet will have an alien living there, and the children will decide whether it is friendly or frightening.
After the activity, we will discuss the alien in more detail. The children can share ideas about what it looks like, what it eats, who its friends are, and what the planet it lives on is like. To conclude, each child will draw their alien and then create a model of it using play dough, bringing their imaginative ideas to life.-
Damien,
I did a similar activity for Space Week a few years ago with my Brownie Guides — we “climbed” into our rockets by lying on our backs (the same way that astronauts do before their rocket launches) – I called out the countdown, then described how we were being pushed back into our ‘seats’ and being shaken around. (All with actions the girls made up!) When we reached orbit, we got out of our ‘seats’ and ‘floated’ around the room for a bit, before strapping back in to head to the Moon.
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https://coggle.it/diagram/aJ5Rb7DzXxWcbmtI/t/-
I would use the Space and Aliens activity as an imaginative way to develop children’s creativity, observational skills, and early scientific thinking. We would begin with a discussion about life on earth—what makes plants, animals, and humans special. We would list these characteristics on the board (e.g., needs air, water, food, can move).
I would introduce the idea of a new planet with a very different environment, hotter, colder, or with less gravity. Using prompts from the “Special Life” resource, children would imagine what kind of living things could survive there. The children would design their own alien using art materials, giving it features that help it survive in its environment eg. long arms to reach food, extra eyes for dark conditions. Children would be asked to explain why their alien has each feature, reinforcing scientific reasoning. This playful approach builds vocabulary, encourages problem-solving, and integrates STEM with art.
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I think the Stars activity would work really well with my class. I would start by asking the children what they think stars are and where they come from, as this would bring out their imaginative ideas. We would then watch a video that explains what stars are made of, why they shine, and how they can be different sizes and colours. We would also look at the constellations and the different names.
After the video, I would give the children black card and either chalk or metallic/bright crayons to create their own “night sky.” I’d encourage them to include different colours to represent hot and cool stars, and we could even add some constellations we’ve learned about. Once they’ve finished, we’d do a quick “space gallery” walk around the classroom so they can admire each other’s work and share something interesting they’ve learned. This combination of discussion, visuals, and creativity would help the learning stick in a fun and memorable way.
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Emma – do you have a suggested video that you would use?
Paxi might work – but is more solar system centred – and I have to admit I haven’t watched all of these (yet)
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The activity I chose was Universe in a box from UNAWE. I’d start by showing the kids how the Moon changes shape in the sky. I’d use a small ball to be the Moon and a flashlight as the Sun, turning off the lights so they can really see how the light hits the ball from different angles. I’d move the ball around slowly to show how the Moon looks different from Earth depending on where it is.
Then, I’d give each child a white paper circle to create their own Moon phases using paint or crayons. They’d paint different shapes—like full moon, half moon, crescent—while I explain what each one means. We’d chat about why the Moon seems to change shape but doesn’t actually change—it’s all about how much sunlight we see.
Finally, I’d encourage them to watch the Moon at home and see if they notice the phases themselves. It’s a fun, hands-on way to make space feel real and exciting!
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I found many interesting activities in the Stargazing Live activity pack. Some were probably a bit difficult for children in Infants but they could be adapted easily enough – I know the children would love rolling out the toilet roll to do the Loo Roll solar system activity and as I will have fourteen children in my Junior Infant class it would be a very doable whole class activity in the Hall, on the corridor or in the yard.
However my main focus of work would involve the activities included in the ESERO Mars resource pack. I could use “Baby Brains” as a starting point – Baby Brains’ rocket landed and when he stepped out this is what he saw – and pictures of Mars that are included in the pack. Is he home? Where is he? This would lead us into a discussion that would involve us comparing and contrasting this planet (Mars) and where he should be (Earth). We will spend time looking at the features of Earth and the features of Mars. We will consider how Baby Brains’ life would be if he stayed on Mars and would it be the same as on Earth – weather, food, pets, friends.
This introduction and discussion will lead us into a group of activities that will rotate over a week:
· Construct the Martian landscape using a paper plate, junk materials and paint
· Make a Martian – using clay, paint, junk materials, fabric & fibre
· Make an atmosphere glider (taken from Stargazing activity book)
· Use Mobilo to invent a buggy to drive around Mars
· Make a rocket to get Baby Brains home (Construction/Junk modelling)
Our gliders, buggies and rockets will be tested and demonstrated to the group members and rest of the class as part of the sessions. However, at the end of the week we will discuss how successful our rockets were and what we might change. The block of work will be concluded with a teacher demonstration of the rocket from Stargazing – although I might have to have a practice launch or two at home first!!
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Love this Mary.
Another Martian option could be the little helicopter Ingenuity – and you could make paper helicopters from the Curious Minds resource:
and in Irish: https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/irish/col/curious-minds-resource-paper-helicopters-irish.pdf
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Continuing from my module 2 topic of day and night I would focus on the activity set associated with the stars, specifically the star lantern. I think this would be a great way to spark curiosity and wonder in the classroom.
I would first switch off the lights and shine the torch into the lantern, transforming the room. We would discuss why we see stars at night, how the Earth moves, and how ancient people used the stars to tell stories. I would draw on stories such as A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth Fishman to help the class connect with the quantity of stars that exist. The lantern activity has reminded me that learning doesn’t always have to come from facts alone — it can start with a feeling, a moment of awe, or a spark of wonder. I would also like to draw on Van Gogh’s Starry Night and encourage the class to create their own unique pieces with art with stars as their central focus. We could focus on constellations as well. My sister gave me a print for my daughter showing the exact layout of the stars at the time she was born and I think my class would find this fascinating to see (and curious to know how they were laid out when they were born!)
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I would use the Stars activity set to introduce children to the wonder of the night sky while also developing key skills in observation, storytelling, and early maths. We would begin with Lots and Lots of Stars! to spark discussion about the sheer number of stars and to build curiosity. Then, using the Constellations activity from Universe in a Box, children could create their own star maps and explore how different cultures have interpreted the stars through myths and legends. I would extend this by inviting pupils to Draw Your Own Constellation, encouraging creativity and personal connections to what they see in the night sky. To bring a tactile and visual dimension, we would finish with the Star Lanterns activity, which would allow students to create a digital photo record of their lanterns glowing in a darkened classroom. This set combines science, art, storytelling, and maths, making astronomy meaningful and cross-curricular.
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Firstly, I would read the story “Barnaby The Badger who Loved Stars” (Barnaby the Badger Who Loved the Stars | English Story for Children | Learn English Through Story). We would then have a think, pair and share activity using questions such as:
What do you think stars do at night?
Have you ever seen a star in the sky?
Group work would follow, using talk and discussion to teach the following:
• Stars are giant balls of hot gas.
• The Sun is the closest star to Earth.
• We see stars at night because it’s dark.
• Stars twinkle because of the Earth’s atmosphere.
I would introduce the activity “Create Your Own Starry Sky” and the song “Sky Full of Stars”. Each child would be given black paper, white crayons and star stickers. The challenge is that each time the students hear the word star or stars as the song plays, they add a star sticker or draw a star on their sheet of black paper. Each child will be asked to name one of their stars and share their creations with a friend.
Finally, we would have a group discussion using the following questions as stimuli:
• What did you learn about stars?
• Why do we see them at night?
• Can you name a star we see every day?
To complete the lesson, we would watch and dance to the “Let’s Dance” version of Sky Full of Stars (Let’s Dance! “Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay from Sing 2 – YouTube)-
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Thanks for sharing the story: https://youtu.be/yDoLVpEJkhI?si=p65UM9FexzAikz5i,
although I’m not sure how Barnaby found Tilly just by knowing where north is!
There is scope for an older class to look at why Polaris remains in the same part of the sky, possibly by making star maps or using this resource from SpaceWeek.ie
https://www.spaceweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Plough-Clock.pdf
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I would use the book ‘Stars’ by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee to introduce the children to the topic of stars. I believe stars and the night sky are fascinating and a topic that children really enjoy learning about.
I would have the children discuss what they know about stars and how they can be used, such as to tell direction, used by ancient civilisations to tell stories etc. I would also give them some facts written on flashcards. I would have some interesting facts as well as some fictional ones and ask the children to try and pick the true facts, such as ‘some stars are 100 times bigger than the sun’, ‘light from stars takes millions of years to reach us’ etc.
I would then have show the children some different constellations and make guesses at what they look like and then follow up with an art lesson on making their own constellations. -
Activity set: Space and Aliens
Like others on this forum I would start with a story as a prompt such as ‘Aliens love underpants’ or ‘Welcome to Alien School’.
I like the activity of drawing and designing their own alien and incorporating math skills by discussing shapes and number through questioning. eg. What shape did you use for the head/body/legs? How many eyes/arms does it have? Etc. They could also then make the alien with clay and incorporate 3D shape discussion.
For first or second class I have done a lesson before that I think could link well. We did it with monsters but it could easily be substituted for aliens. We were looking at inherited traits. The children would be given 2 different aliens (One labelled Mam and one labelled Dad). They also had a checklist of traits such as skin colour, skin texture, arms, legs, eyes, pattern, nose, teeth, feet. The children would roll a dice for each trait. If the number is even the new child alien gets that trait from the Mam and if the number is odd they get the trait from the Dad. The children then draw their new alien with the chosen traits. They would then discuss the new alien with their group and explain that their alien got 4 eyes from their Mam and has red and white fur from their Dad etc. -
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Activity Set: Space & Aliens
The activity set I plan to teach in my classroom is Space and Aliens. I’d choose this topic because I think children in general are fascinated with space and especially aliens.
The currently very popular movie Lilo and Stitch would be a great starting point for this lesson. Lilo and Stitch is everywhere at the moment and the children would be aware of his story as an alien and how he came to earth. A discussion around what the Aliens might look like could also be part of this lesson. I think every child also has a different version of what an alien should look like so getting them to design their own aliens will definitely be imaginative and exciting.
Extending the lesson, I would also read the book There’s an Alien in your book by Tom Fletcher. This would start the conversation on how to fix his rocket, how to design a home for him on earth and to design and Alien friends for him on earth too.
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Activity Set: Stars
I would begin by putting a picture of a stary night on the white board and discussing what they see and exploring stars in general.
We would explore the composition of stars and how they can be grouped into constellations. We would look at some of the constellations. Children will guess what each constellation is.
I will give each child a black piece of paper and they will design their own star constellation and present to the class.
This topic can also be linked with music using the song ‘Stars’ (sung to the tune of ‘Twinkle Twinkle’). It would consolidate children’s understanding of stars and could be performed using their constellations as a prop.-
Justyne,
this has sent me down a rabbit hole of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star facts.
Did you know that there are actually 5 verses?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkle,_Twinkle,_Little_Star
Do you propose to use these lyrics? or is “Stars” a different song?
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I heard the second verse before but never realised there are 5 verses altogether.
No I found this one here:
Stars
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, I know what you really are:
Giant ball of glowing gas, One of billions in a mass!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, Oh, how big you really are!
Twinkle, twinkle, giant star, Larger than the Earth by far!
Since your distance is a lot, You look like a tiny dot.
Twinkle, twinkle, giant star, Very bright, yet very far!
Stars are twinkling, every one, Some are bigger than the sun!
Just a twinkle in the sky, Just because you’re oh, so high!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, Oh how big you really are.Just thought it was a nice easy way to help consolidate some of the facts.
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Activity set:Stars
I’d start with the Rhyme Twinkle Twinkle and introduce it in Irish through this
The class can then share what they know about stars on a mind map on the board.
Some may have read Oliver Jeffers- How to Catch a Star. I’d ask if it’s possible to catch a star? How big are they? Arr stars visable during the day? Do they know the sun is a star? How many stars are there? Can we see them all from Earth?
After reading the story we would do the ESERO activity Lots and Lots of stars. Using marbles and then sand once marbles have run out!
We would then discuss the photograph of the night sky provided in the activity.Following on from this star image discussion we could make our own story Sky using the spatter technique suggested.
In future art lessons I could follow on with showing some artists impressions of the night sky- Van Goghs Stary night, Starry Night Over the Rhone, Starry Night- Edvard Munch, Starlight night-Georgia O’Keeffe
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Class Level: Senior Infants
Duration: 45–60 minutesThis playful and imaginative lesson introduces young learners to space and aliens through storytelling, art, and drama. Begin by showing images of space—planets, stars, and rockets—and ask, “What do you think space looks like?” Read Aliens Love Dinopants by Claire Freedman to spark curiosity and laughter. As a class, discuss what the aliens looked like in the story and imagine what aliens might look like if they visited Earth or lived on Mars.
Next, children create their own alien using drawing materials or playdough. For extra support, use the “Roll and Draw an Alien” sheet from Twinkl to help generate fun ideas. Encourage them to think about colours, shapes, and features like eyes, arms, or tails.
Students then introduce their alien to a partner or the class, sharing its name and one fun fact—e.g., “My alien eats moon cheese!”
To finish, play space-themed music and have students move around the room as their aliens. This encourages creativity, movement, and expression.
Wrap up by reflecting on what they learned and proudly displaying their alien creations. This lesson supports oral language, creative arts, and early science exploration in a fun, engaging way.
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I really like this idea – it’s such a fun and imaginative way to bring space to life for young children. The use of the story Aliens Love Dinopants is brilliant because it’s so engaging and funny, and it gives the children a lovely starting point to think about what aliens might look like. I also really like the mix of activities you’ve chosen – from storytelling to art and playdough, and then adding in movement with the space music. It means there’s something for every child to connect with, whether they enjoy listening, creating, or being active.
I think the “introduce your alien” part is especially valuable for oral language development, and the idea of displaying the creations at the end gives the children a real sense of pride in their work. Overall, it’s such a creative and playful lesson that ties together science, art, and drama beautifully.
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This is such a fun and well-rounded lesson that’s perfect for senior infants! I love how you’ve combined storytelling, visual prompts, art, and movement to fully engage the children across multiple learning areas. Aliens Love Dinopants is a brilliant choice—funny, accessible, and full of imagination. Using the “Roll and Draw an Alien” sheet is a great support tool for learners who might need a prompt to get started. The drama element with music really brings the aliens to life and adds another layer of creativity. It’s fantastic to see how you’ve woven in early science concepts alongside oral language and expression. I’m sure your pupils will remember this lesson for a long time!
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I’d choose the “Stars” activity set for my class. I would start by dimming the lights and using a small torch or projector to make “stars” on the ceiling and walls, so the children feel like they are looking up at the night sky. We’d chat about when we see stars, what they look like, and how they seem to twinkle.
Afterwards, the children could create their own star jars by sprinkling glitter or sequins into a clear plastic bottle with water (well sealed!). These would become little “galaxies” they can shake and watch sparkle. For a simpler option, children could use black paper and chalk to design their own constellations.
To tie it together, we’d lie on the floor, look up at our “classroom sky,” and imagine what it would be like to go star-gazing. I’d encourage children to make up names or stories for the shapes they create, building both creativity and early oral language skills.
This activity works well because it combines imagination, hands-on play, and early science talk in a way that’s engaging for young children.
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Tara,
in Module 4 we share “Stellarium” which is planetarium software. An option for your night sky of stars might be to shine this up on the ceiling from a projector. It can be displayed on a whiteboard, but covering the expanse of a ceiling would be much more dramatic.
You could explore why stars twinkle – see this video> https://youtu.be/Pu9Yu-DMfyM?si=UH_1LAztKljeo7ws, the galaxy jars that you make may well act as the atmosphere.
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Activity Set: Stars
I like ESERO’s concept of using marbles to teach children about the vast number of stars in space. I would love to close all the windows and blinds, lights off and move the furniture to the side. Have the students lie on their back and look up, stargaze! I have a light that projects stars and galaxies and planets onto the ceiling and walls. I would ask the children to try and count the number of stars that they can see!
This video is good from Dr. Binocs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSuAPFMXcYM
There are great opportunities to link in with Nursery Rhymes/Music: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little or even attempt Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars.
I like the activity on drawing constellations. I could find out prior to the lesson, what star sign the students have and show them what their constellation looks like.
Art activities; Paint splatter, create a galaxy with lots of colours and portray how there are so many stars in the sky. The children could make a star lantern for Space Week.
To include STEM activities, the children could use the Bee Bots, create a galaxy using Lego and App software too.
Alien Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqGPhiAlFjU
Stellarium website
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I would choose the Space and Aliens activity set, as it offers a brilliant opportunity to spark creativity and scientific thinking in younger pupils. This theme naturally captures their imagination and allows for cross-curricular learning across science, language, and art.
I would begin by reading a story about aliens or showing an animated video to prompt discussion. We would then explore the idea of different planets having different environments—some might be hot, cold, windy, or have no gravity. I would encourage the children to think about how an alien might need to look or behave to survive in those conditions. This links well with the concept of adaptation in animals, but in a playful and imaginative way.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Using modelling clay, pipe cleaners, and other craft materials, the children would design and build their own aliens. Afterwards, they would describe their alien’s features and explain why it’s suited to its planet. This promotes oral language development, creative expression, and scientific reasoning. It’s a fun, hands-on way to build inquiry skills and encourage curiosity about life beyond Earth.</p> -
Start of lesson for Junior Classes:
Start with “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in Irish.
Include actions, rhythm, or call-and-response.Mind Map: What We Know About Stars
Then WALT We are learning to…
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Powerpoint about stars (twinkle.ie) Possible questions, can we touch or catch a star? How far away are they?
Are all stars the same? Have you ever seen a shooting star? The work done in a observatory ?Examine night sky photographs or online planetarium images.
Discuss patterns, brightness, colours, and differences among stars.Activity: Hands-On Activity. Draw your own consolation e.g it use to be a saucepan.The revisit walt at end to consolidate the lesson
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Activity set: stars
To begin the lesson and as a prompt for scientific discussion, I would read the children the story of ‘How to catch a star’ by Oliver Jeffers as this has been very popular with my senior infants before and is it a good way to elicit a response.
We will fill out a KWL chart on the theme of stars’ before commencing the main activity.I would then make use of the esero 13 activity ‘Lots and lots of stars’ to encourage children to think about how many stars there are in our universe. We will then engage in the art activity of making a starry night and also look at Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘starry night’ picture as a stimulus. The children will be asked to discuss their picture and what they know about stars.
To conclude, the children will watch the ESA ‘One billion plus’ stars video and discuss their thoughts.
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Hi, the activity set I have chosen is Stars, with a senior infant class in mind. In my classroom I will use the picture book Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett as the starting point. I will begin by showing the cover to the children and asking them what they see. I will ask them to guess what the story might be about before we read it together.
I will then read the story aloud. As I read, I will stop and ask simple questions such as “Why does the mole want the moon?” or “Do you think he can really catch it?” This will help the children to think about the story and share their ideas. After we finish, I will talk with the children about the night sky. We will think about what we can see when we look up, such as stars and the moon.
To end the activity, the children will make their own star pictures using dark paper and crayons. They will then show their work and say one wish they would make if they could catch a star.
Thanks,
Michelle -
I picked the aliens aspect of this module.
I would use these activities to inspire my play set-ups in the infant classes. I think the make your own alien using playdough activity would be a great art activity to set up for free play. I would leave googly eyes, match sticks, feathers etc.
I also like the idea of them acting like an alien in drama. I would expand upon this by giving them small scenarios to act out. Eg: ‘imagine you’re driving your spaceship’, ‘pretend you’re climbing out of your spaceship’, ‘oh my goodness, you get out and you don’t know where you are, you’ve never seen a space like this before’, ‘go ask someone where you are in your alien language etc’. I would also incorporate a hotseating activity where a child or myself would pretend to be an alien and the other children would ask them questions. Or, we could brainstorm questions that you would love to ask an alien.
I think it would be important to be mindful when approaching this topic as some parents sometimes do not like their children learning about topics such as this due to religious reasons etc.
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I love your ideas, Denise! The playdough aliens with googly eyes and feathers will be such a hit with the children. They’ll love having the freedom to make their own creations. Your drama scenarios are really imaginative too. I can just picture the excitement as they act out climbing out of their spaceship or speaking in an alien language. The hotseating activity is such a clever way to build questioning skills and spark curiosity.
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I would start by asking the children what can they see in the sky during the day vs. what we can see in the sky at night time. This simple question encourages them to share their experiences and builds on the children’s curiosity.
I would use different size round objects – such as a small football, tennis ball, beads etc. to explain to the children that not all stars are the same size but they all look small as they are so far away. We could look at this in thje classroom – looking at objects from far away and up close – seeing how they look smaller when one is further away.
I would read a simple story to the children about stars and sing the song – twinkle twinkle little star.
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Module 3: ASSIGNMENT
Choose from one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module:
Activity Set: Stars
Activity Set: Space and Aliens
How would you use the activity in your classroom?With my infant class I would like to use the Space Week activity of Design a Martian. To begin I would elicit what knowledge the children have about Martians as I feel this might be an unfamiliar word and they may be more used to used to the word alien, now I can explain the similiarities and differences.
A good started would be to read the story of Aliens in Underpants Save the World. This is a fun, exciting and entertaining story that the children will like. It will then allow a discussion to begin what they think a Martian would look like. Using their predication skills the children can draw their Martian and then make a 3d model using playdough. At the end the children will get a chance to share their Martians with the class encouraging them to give them a name, talk about what skills/powers they have and what their life on Mars would be like.
To conclude I would get the children to sing and dance along to the songs The Martians Came to Play
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Katie,
your Martian activity sounds like an engaging experience for infants. I like the inclusion of Aliens Love Underpants, it really is a super story for that age group and has a wide range of alien body types, with different eyes, shapes, colours – all of which can support early Maths and Science observation skills.
Did you know that there are official Alien Underpants songs?
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The activity set I have chosen to focus on is stars. I think it’s safe to say that almost all children find stars fascinating so it would be a lesson that should easily engage them. I would like to try out the lesson making a star lantern from the space week resources. I like the idea that this links with Visual Art and can be done during art time as it can be hard to find the time to complete an activity like this during SESE. I would start off the lesson by giving the class a simple join the dots activity to do. Most children love these! Once they have completed this I would show them one of the many lovely videos for kids from youtube explaining what a constellation is. Then a class discussion on why our join the dots pictures are similar to a constellation and allow the children to explain what a constellation is in their own words. Following this the children would make the star lanterns. I think it would be nice to allow the children to design their own constellations for their lamps. If possible I would ask for the help of another staff member as they may need help, especially with putting together the lamp at the end. I would give the children battery operated night lights to illuminate the lamps. We might finish the lesson by looking at the book ‘Zoo in the Night Sky’ by Jacqueline Mitton.
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I love exploring Space and Alien’s with junior infants. It really demonstrates their amazing imaginations and creativity.
First I would read ‘Alien’s love underpants.’ This is a brilliant hook for Junior Infants. We might discuss have we ever heard the word alien? What do you think it means? Where do aliens come from?
I would also show images of planets, stars, and cartoon-style aliens.
We then could pose our problem:
“An alien is a creature that might live on another planet. We don’t know if they really exist, but scientists are looking! Let’s think together — what do all living things need to stay alive?”A colleague of mine did something similar to this activity and I would love to recreate it in my class this year. IT really emphasises the ‘let’s investigate’ style of this course.
We could create 3–4 “Planet Stations” around the room (each with a small table or area). Each planet has a description or props to help children imagine it.
Planet Station Examples could be:
Planet Lava: Hot and full of bubbling lava (use red/orange cloth, pictures of volcanoes) “Would an alien survive here? Why or why not?”
Planet Ice: Freezing cold, covered in snow
Planet Windy: Planet GreenThe páistí could rotate in Small Groups and at each station, they can Touch/observe the props, Chat with teacher/SNA about the planet and Draw or imagine what kind of alien could live
After their rotation, I would Let them draw/design or build their own alien and describe the planet it comes from.There are lots more picture books to explore too- it really is a week or more block of activity!
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Lesson Stars
Lesson introduction:
I would begin the lesson by inviting the children to the carpet and turning off the lights. Next, I would turn on my star light projector and ask the children what they see. We would discuss this and what they look like. I would then read them the story ‘Can You See the Stars Tonight?’. We would discuss how stars were described in the story and what time of day the story takes place. I would ask the children to close their eyes and imagine the night sky. What do they see? What sounds might they hear?
Responses will included stars, the moon, a planet, a satellite, an aeroplane. Ask them to describe the stars they can see – are they shiny, twinkly, sparkling, bright, yellow, etc. Has anyone seen a very starry night? Where was this? Explain that many years ago, people looked at the stars and imagined they could join them up like dot-to-dot pictures and make animals, objects and story characters. Show the children a picture of the Plough and explain that a plough is a tool used to dig up the earth ready for planting. Show the picture of the old-fashioned plough if you have one. We can often see the Plough in the night sky as it’s near to the pole star which is always visible in the sky. Has anyone seen the Plough in the sky? A group of stars that forms a pattern is called a constellation. Practise saying this together.
Development:
I would explain that each child will create a starry night sky showing a constellation. Show them some pictures of simple constellations and talk about the patterns they form. Give each child an A5 piece and ask them to create a constellation with the stickers, once they are finished each child will brush the dark blue paint across the picture. While the picture is wet, ask them to sprinkle some table salt across the picture and observe how the salt draws the watery paint into patterns. Leave the paintings to dry. Once dry, rub off the salt and unpeel the stickers to reveal the constellations
While waiting on the pictures to dry explore how we need a dark sky to see the stars. I would turn off the classroom lights and close the blinds. Asking them to spot where the light creeps in under the blinds, through the windows/doors, etc. This is a bit like a nighttime sky, where light creeps into the sky from various sources like street lights. This means we can’t always see the stars properly.
Finish:
We would watch ‘Stars in the Solar System | Science for Kid’ as a concluding activity an get the pupils to paste up their pictures to form a class display.
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Activity set: Stars
I’ve chosen the Stars activity set as I think it would really capture the imagination of junior infants. To start, I’d bring the children to the carpet, turn off the main lights, and use a small torch with holes punched in paper to “project” stars onto the wall. This would get them excited and ready to talk about what stars look like.
After this, I’d give them black paper and crayons to make their own “night skies.” Some children could add lots of stars, while others might create patterns or shapes. Once finished, we’d share their work and I’d introduce the idea that when people connect stars together, they make pictures called constellations.
To end, we’d play a simple movement game where the children pretend to be twinkling stars in the sky, shining brightly or fading when I call out. This keeps the learning active, fun, and memorable.
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The activity I chose to explore is the ESERO lesson called ‘Lots and lots of Stars’.
This is a an outline of how I would use this activity with my Junior Infant class.-Start with a picture book about the night sky, for example ‘How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers
-Discuss what can be seen in the sky at night
-Introduce the main part of the lesson by giving each child a piece of black card and asking them to make “lots and lots of stars” by dotting chalk/white crayons across the page.
-Discuss “Do you think we can count them all?” Let them try, then laugh together at how impossible it is- linking to the big idea that there are too many stars to count.
-Darken the room and shine torches gently on their star pictures. Ask: “When do we see stars – in the day or in the night?”
-The lesson could be extended by introducing roleplay and encouraging them to pretend to be astronauts. We could use the 6 foot space rocket made by a previous Infant teacher as a prop for this lesson extension. -
I am going to focus on a lesson about aliens.
I think this is a topic that would really spark the curiosity and imaginations of younger learners.
To begin I would read the story ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ as a stimulus. We would then discuss what we think aliens would be like- what they would look like, how they would act etc. I would show the children pictures and illustrations of different interpretations of aliens and ask them if they think aliens would be like this.
I would give the children some playdough, toothpicks and googly eyes and ask them to construct their own aliens. They would then describe their alien to their partner/to the class. What is the alien’s name? What can s/he do? Is there something special about their alien?
I would link this in with the ESERO activity ‘Special Life’ where the children would have acted out special objects/animals from Earth.
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The activity set I will focus on is Space and Aliens. I like the activity looking at what is special about earth and how to describe them to an alien. There is a poem “The Marrog” about an alien from mars at the back of the classroom that would be a good anchor to use in the lesson. The teacher could role play being the marrog and the children could interview her about life on mars. Then ask the children questions about life on earth and compare and contrast life on earth with life on mars. 20 questions would also work well possibly based on animals to include “Living Things”. I love the idea of designing their own alien using either clay, paint of fabric and fibre. I would also use digital technology as an option to create their alien. Paper mache is a great way to explore the surface of mars. They could add their aliens to their paper mache.
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Marie,
thanks for mentioning The Marrog – it is a poem that has been mentioned in other years that this course has run, but I think you are the first to include it this year.
https://www.thelearningzoo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Picture-It-The-Marrog.pdf
There are further suggestions here: https://irishprimaryteacher.ie/the-marrog/
I think comparing and contrasting Mars to Earth is a powerful way for the children to explore the differences. They may not know a lot about Mars, so be sure to offer images to help them see the differences. A suitable source of those images is the Mars resource from spaceweek.ie, or this from NASA.
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I really like your idea of using The Marrog poem as a springboard into the lesson—it gives the activity a creative hook that children will instantly connect with. Having the teacher role-play as the Marrog sounds like such a fun way to spark curiosity, and I can imagine the children getting very excited about asking questions and comparing Earth to Mars. It’s also a great way to naturally bring in science concepts about “Living Things” and what makes Earth unique.
I also love the creative element of designing aliens. Giving children the choice of materials—clay, fabric, digital design—really caters to different learning styles and keeps the activity inclusive. Paper mâché planets with aliens added is such a clever touch, too; it would make a wonderful classroom display that could tie the whole project together.
Your idea balances imagination with real science beautifully, and I think children would remember this kind of lesson for a long time.
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The “Lots and lots of stars!” activity is such a wonderful way to bring curiosity and wonder into the classroom while weaving together science, math, and art. I would use this lesson to help children build a concrete understanding of something that can feel very abstract. The marble comparison is a powerful visual tool—it helps young learners grasp that stars are far too numerous to count, even though they can count and compare smaller groups right in front of them.
I especially love how the lesson shifts into a creative mode through the splatter-painting activity. This allows children to not only recall what they’ve learned about stars but also express it in a personal, hands-on way. Their starry skies would become both art pieces and science reflections, making the learning meaningful and memorable. I would encourage them to add details—perhaps highlighting one star as the Sun, or even trying to create different colors of stars, just as in real life.
To extend the activity, I might introduce digital elements, such as projecting a star map on the classroom wall or using a stargazing app to compare their paintings with real constellations. Recording the children’s responses to the discussion questions could also provide a delightful digital record of their learning journey.
This activity beautifully balances fact and imagination, giving children the chance to count, create, and wonder—all while building a first sense of the vastness of our universe.
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To introduce stars, I will begin with a hands-on activity by dimming the classroom lights and using a torch with cut-out star shapes to create a “night sky” on the walls.I would invite the children to share what they already know about stars.
Next, we will build a constellation using straws and star stickers on black paper. Children will arrange straws in simple patterns and place stickers at the connecting points, making the idea of constellations concrete, creative, and tactile.
To consolidate learning, I will read a short storybook such as How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers, which captures the wonder of stars in a child-friendly way. Pupils will finish by naming and sharing their own constellation. -
I would aim the following lesson at first and second class year groups. I would pose a question at the beginning of the lesson ‘What do you see in the night sky?’ I’m sure this would bring about some interesting responses. This would lead to a discussion about stars being huge balls of burning gas, much bigger and farther away than they appear. I would use a flashlight and small balls to demonstrate how stars look tiny because of distance. I would show a short video or read a short story about constellations. The class would then demonstrate their understanding of constellations by drawing on black paper with chalk or stickers and giving their constellation a creative name. To end the lesson the children could take turns in the tent at the back of the room with glow in the dark stars stuck to the ceiling – ‘star gazing’.
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The activity set I have chosen is ‘Space and Aliens’. I like this activity set because it allows for an imaginative theme within the students’ learning. I would use this activity set with first class or second class. I would focus on the ‘Classroom Resource Booklet – Mars’ that was produced for Space Week by Discover Primary Science and Maths. I think the ‘Mars: Junior Activities’ are excellent. They link very well to STEM activities as the students engage in a design challenge when they are designing a martian. A good link to the students’ literacy, in particular the ‘Writing’ stand could be to write a character description about the martian they have designed. They could also write the description for the setting based on a landscape suitable for their martian. To link with the ‘Oral Language’ strand the students could work in pairs to talk about how they could describe Earth to an alien using the ‘Where Do You Live?’ resource from Esero. A link to Digital Technology could be using the iPads to explore Mars with Google Mars from Google Earth. As a link to Visual Art, the students could sketch or draw their martian. If time allowed, they could create their martian using 3D materials or recyclable materials.
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That sounds like a fantastic choice! The Space and Aliens activity set is such a fun and imaginative way to get students engaged, and I really like how you’ve planned clear links across different curriculum areas. The Mars resource and design challenge sound especially exciting, as they give the children a real STEM focus while still letting their creativity shine. I think your literacy and oral language links work really well too – writing character descriptions and describing Earth to an alien are both brilliant ways to develop communication skills.
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I would love to use the Visibility of the Constellations activity from the Universe in a Box resource with my class. This activity provides an excellent way to introduce children to the concept that the night sky appears differently depending on where you are in the world, and that not all constellations are visible from every location. Using simple, hands-on materials, I can guide the children to explore why we see certain star patterns here in Ireland that might not be visible to people living closer to the equator. Earlier this year, my older class had the opportunity to visit the Armagh Observatory Planetarium @ TU Dublin and were fascinated to observe how the stars shift with our viewpoint on Earth. If the Observatory returns this year, I would be eager to bring my class again. Building on a classroom activity beforehand would allow the children to engage more deeply during the visit, encouraging them to question, investigate, and make sense of the patterns they see in the night sky.
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I hope you get the opportunity to bring your class to a planetarium again this year Amanda. If you are close enough to Cork, we do school tours including planetarium shows at Blackrock Castle!
How would you go about demonstrating that different locations on Earth can see different constellations with simple materials?
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lesson: Stars
Learning intentions:
1.To understand what stars are and why we see them in the night sky.
2. To introduce the concept of constellations.Success Criteria:
1. Children can identify stars as distant suns.
2. Children can name one or two simple constellations.
3. Children can make observations about the night sky.What we will need:
1. Pictures or slides of the night sky and constellations
2. Flashlights or small torches
3. Digital device for recording observationsLesson:
Lesson Steps:1. Introduction
Questions: Have you ever looked at the stars at night?
Show a picture of the night sky. Discuss:
Stars are huge balls of burning gas far away.
Some stars form patterns called constellations.2. Exploration Activity
Darken the room slightly or use a box with holes to simulate stars.
Give children star stickers to place on a large paper to make their own constellations.3. Observation
Show pictures of simple constellations
Discuss how people long ago used stars for navigation and stories.
Children can describe what shapes or patterns they see in the sky.4. Reflection
Children share their constellations with a partner or the class.
Record reflections digitally by taking photos
Children can say one sentence about their favorite star or constellation.5. Conclusion
Recap: stars are suns, constellations are patterns, and stars help us learn about space.
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I will do the sctivity set – stars with my class. With particular focus on Unawe resources. I would introduce the word Constellation.
I will begin by explaining that constellations are groups of stars that form shapes—like pictures in the night sky,showing simple examples like the Big Dipper (“a ladle shape”) or Cassiopeia (“a big W shape”) .
For oral language development and cross curricular links I will encourage words and phrases like: above, below, beside, between , far and near and also the use of mathematical language as part of Stem- The star is above the circle,“I’ve made a triangle shape,”
“This line is going diagonally across the paper.”
I will then encourage the children to make their Own Constellation- Using the “Universe in a Box” materials as inspiration.
Materials: black cardstock or paper, chalk or white crayons, star stickers or hole punch stars.
Method
1.Place some star stickers randomly on the black paper.
2.Ask children to connect them with lines to create their own shape—it could look like an animal, object,etc.I will encourage the children to discuss their constellations using the language learned at the beginning of the lesson. -
Activity Set: Stars
How would you use the activity in your classroom? Post a reflective piece (150 words min) to the forum as a reply to this post.
We would firstly explore the theme of constellations and discuss what students know about constellations. We would then watch this ESA Gaia video on dancing constellations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrvTLK_XlNs.
We would then look at some drawings of constellations and I would ask children what they see and if they recognise any of the constellations. Children would be given some time to make constellations using matchsticks or chalk and black paper and give their constellations a name and some features that they would like their constellations to have.
I would then invite students to make a Star Lantern which will project constellations onto the wall.
Students will need:
Coloured paper, needle, newspaper, brush, luminious paint, crepe paper, flashlight, stick, glue, string, A4 paper, stapler.
Steps:
1. Copy a constellation or create your own on a piece of paper.
2. Paint it with luminous paint on the colour paper.
3. Prick holes on the stars.
4. Fold the paper in a circle and staple it.
5. Tie a piece of string across the cylinder.
6. Tie the flashlight to the stick.
7. Hang the lantern from the stick and decorate it.
8. Light it.
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I’d use the “Lots and Lots of Stars” lesson from the Stars activity set in a fun, hands-on way. I’d start by asking the children, “How many stars do you think are in the sky?” and let them guess big numbers. To help them imagine it, I’d bring out jars with marbles—one with just a few, one with the same number as children in the room, and then one packed full. We’d talk about how the sky has even more stars than that, so many we could never count them all. Next, I’d show them a picture of a night sky and ask questions such as, “When do we see stars?” and “Is the Sun a star too?” I’d let them share their own ideas before giving any answers to allow them to think critically. For the creative part, each child would get dark paper and paint to make their own starry night. They could flick paint with a toothbrush or splatter with a comb to make little dots for stars. They’d really enjoy experimenting and seeing what patterns they could create. To finish, we’d share the pictures as a class and talk about what we learned.
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I really liked the creating a Martian for the junior children. It is my first time teaching this age group so ideas like this are really getting my imagination going!
In this lesson linked to this module, the children will use their imagination to design and describe their own alien. I will begin by showing a picture of a funny, unusual alien and asking questions such as, “What do you notice? How many eyes does it have? What shapes can you see?” Can also read books such as aliens stole my underpants or even aliens need snacks for further stimulus. This will encourage careful observation and introduce counting body parts such as eyes mouths legs ears etc…
The children will then create their own alien using modelling materials. They will decide on features such as how many legs, arms, eyes, or antennae their alien has, linking to early counting and number skills. We will also talk about shape and pattern, e.g., “triangle wings” or “spots in a line.”
we will discuss what their alien might need to survive on a planet – air, food, water, or special features to keep warm or cool. This links to understanding living things and how they adapt to different environments.
Finally, the children will describe their alien to a partner, practising clear communication. They will compare their creations, noticing similarities and differences.
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Hi James,
I really enjoyed reading your idea about creating a Martian with the junior classes. It sounds like such a fun way to get the children using their imagination while also linking in maths and science without them even realising it. I like how you included observation questions at the start to get them thinking about shapes, numbers and details. The modelling part will definitely keep them engaged and I think the follow-up discussion about what their alien needs to survive is a brilliant way of connecting it back to real life science. The communication element at the end is lovely too as it gives them a chance to share proudly what they have made. I think the children will absolutely love this lesson.
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The activity set I have chosen is Space and Aliens. Again, I would begin by revisiting the book ‘s and the Smoos’ and inviting a discussion around the aliens we see in this book. How are they like us? Do they like the things we like? Can they do the things we can? We would then look at the ‘Special Life’ worksheet and discuss what makes us special while the children complete it.
We’d then look at images and videos of various different aliens and discuss ‘Do you think aliens are aliens real?’ prompting the children to think about how they are depicted and open up the question if you say an alien what would it be like? leading onto ‘What makes your alien special?’. Providing the children with opportunities to start imagining their own aliens.
Children would then draw their own alien or using different objects create it from junk art. We would end by allowing the children to share their alien and tell the class something about it.
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Activity set: Space and aliens
Activity: Special Life (ESERO)I would begin by introducing the children to the idea that we live on Earth, while other planets exist in space, but no one lives there. I would ask the children to imagine what they would show visitors from another planet—special objects or animals on Earth. Each child would then privately draw their idea on a sheet of A4 paper using colouring pencils, keeping it a surprise for later. Next, the children would sit in a circle and take turns acting out their drawing without showing it to the group, while the others guess what is being portrayed. This encourages creativity, observation, and oral language skills. It also promotes confidence, turn-taking, and collaboration. The activity supports the Visual Arts strand of the Irish Primary School Curriculum, while offering cross-curricular opportunities in Science, SPHE, and Language, making learning playful, interactive, and reflective of real-world exploration.
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Nice lesson Laoise – I think it’s lovely to discuss with children how special Earth is because life exists here. Although we don’t know of life elsewhere, you could discuss what aliens might be like on various planets based on what we know from Earth. For example, a hot planet might have reptile like aliens or a cold planet might have aliens covered in fur.
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Activity set: Stars
One activity I would love to try with my class is making star lanterns using the resources from Spaceweek.ie. It is such a simple but really effective way to bring the night sky into the classroom.
I would start by chatting with the children about what they see when they look up at the sky at night. I would see if they know what constellations are and if not, explain what they are by showing pictures/videos of them. Then we could link this to stories about how people long ago made shapes and myths from the stars.
The children could design their own lanterns by cutting out constellation patterns and then adding little LED lights inside. When the lights are switched on the lanterns would glow and look just like the night sky. I think the children would be really proud of their creations and it would give us lots of opportunities to talk about why stars shine, why some look brighter, and how the sky changes across the year. It feels like a lovely mix of creativity and science and something that would work really well in a primary classroom.
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I would choose Activity Set: Stars as I feel it offers an engaging and creative way to introduce children to the wonder of space. I would begin by showing the class images and videos of the night sky to spark curiosity and discussion about what stars are and why they are important. To help make the concept more meaningful, we would then explore stories and myths about constellations from different cultures, linking the activity to both history and literacy. The children could work in groups to create their own constellation patterns using chalk on black paper or through a simple digital drawing tool, giving them a chance to blend creativity with science. As a reflective extension, I would ask them to name their constellation and write a short myth or story to accompany it. This activity appeals to different learning styles and helps children develop a sense of connection between science, culture, and imagination.
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For this module, I would use the activity set Stars. Children are naturally fascinated by the night sky, but many do not get the chance to observe it closely. I would begin by showing images of constellations and asking students if they have ever noticed patterns in the stars. Then, I would guide them in creating their own constellation drawings using stickers or small LED lights on black paper. This hands-on activity makes the stars feel more tangible and gives students a chance to connect storytelling with science.
To deepen understanding, I would use a simple planetarium app or website to model how constellations appear differently in various parts of the world and across seasons. This could spark rich discussion about cultural stories connected to the stars. The activity not only develops observational and creative skills, but also highlights the way science and storytelling are interconnected. Ultimately, the Stars activity set provides a balance of wonder, imagination, and scientific thinking that keeps students engaged.
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In order to teach the children about stars I would first introduce the topic by reading some of the stories about stars such as ‘How to catch a star’ by Oliver Jeffers or ‘The girl who stole the stars’ by Corina Campbell. Then I would move on to discussing how this compares to reality and whether you’d really be able to catch a star.
Then we would move on to consider how many stars there are in the universe. Using props such as a jar of marbles, a classroom of children, a box of Lego to stimulate them to imagine and compare quantities. Then I would use a YouTube video to try to demonstrate the great size and number of stars in the universe. A couple of examples are below.
Following on from the lesson I would use a worksheet with selections of stars to count, and an opportunity for them to write the corresponding numeral.
As a further extension I would bring art into the lesson, using black paper, bright paints and a toothbrush, they could create a colourful night sky.
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I would start by using the Oliver Jeffers’ book and singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ as familiar stimuli. We would then discuss what we see in the night sky and discuss how stars look, wishing on a star, fallen star, children’s own inputs.
As other posters have stated, we would do the ‘lots and lots of stars’ activity using marbles to show just how many stars there are in the sky, asking questions such as ‘how many do you think there are/ do you think you can count them etc.
Other posters have given me the idea to create star art by flicking paint or glitter on dark paper to make our own night skies or design their own constellations. We might discuss that they are massive, glowing balls of hot gas, primarily hydrogen and their distance from Earth.
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