Sindhu's cocoon: Lets go into Space! - Solar System Activity for kids

Solar System - Always throws abundance opportunity to learn, explore, imagine and ast(r)onish too!! The darkness of space have constantly kindled man kind to explore, discover and achieve.

Kids at this generation are very eager to learn new things. Even before we think to introduce a new topic/concept they gain some insight about it through books, media, etc. My kids aren't any exception. Well before I plan for an idea, they would suggest on some new concept, to my surprise!! This activity is one of the kind. The sheer size and novelty of the Solar System may make it hard for the young minds to comprehend!! So I planned for an activity - "Learn through play"🌞.

Kids gave me few suggestions - Having the "lives" concept incorporated, which they borrowed from Jumanji movie and using the colorful balls to denote the planets. They were so co-operative with me during the setup! Helped me with the chalk work, collected all the balls and other necessary stuffs.

The Setup:

Draw the model of solar system using the sidewalk chalk. I named all the planets with different colors and drew the planets to scale, approximately! Later we used different colored balls of different sizes to model the planets. By then we discussed which is the Biggest planet, Blue planet, Red Planet, Coldest Planet, Dwarf Planet, Planet which has rings, Brightest planet etc.

It was completely an edutainment for us!! (To stop the balls from rolling during play, we placed the balls on small rings or any object and ensured they are still!) I also included ISS, which is a new term for them. I took the help of "Tik Tik Tik"(2018) tamil movie, to explain about the "Space walk" and "ISS" (International Space Station) concepts!!

Day 1:

This is the dice we used for the game... I planned for a giant sized dice made out of cardboard, but my niece was so kind, that she said no need to waste a cardboard, and instead lets play with normal dice!!!

As the Astronauts were getting ready for the play.......

It started to drizzle!!!

We dropped the play, and enjoyed the rain....!

Day 2:

Next day with the same enthusiasm we started again... Initial setup of placing the planets, I mean the balls were done by "Astronauts"...!!

My niece's idea of having "lives"... used cello tape to mark them... Imitating "Jumanji"..!!!

And the setup is complete!!

Before starting the game, lets see about the "Gaming Rules"....

2 - Mercury. The number on dice decides the game and the score board. When the dice shows 2, the player rockets to Mercury and also gains 2 points. Since it is very close to the Sun, the player gets back to his previous planet; and no points gets added to his score board.
3 - Venus. If the number on the dice shows 3, the player moves to Venus and gains 3 points.(Likewise for rest of the planets...) Since Venus is the Brightest planet, the player enjoys more light, and rest of the players lose one point!
4 - Earth. Home Planet! When the player reaches Earth, he gets to fill his rocket with fuel for free!!! Gains 2 points.
5 - Sun. Getting to the hottest place, the player loses a life!!!
6 - Mars. The player gets a chance to work with "Mangalyan Mission". Gains a point and also the Mangalyan band!
7 - Jupiter. Being on the biggest planet of the system, the player gets an extra turn to throw the dice.
8 - Saturn. Enjoy playing on the rings of Saturn and gain a point.
9 - Uranus. As you went far away from the Sun, the player loses a point and also gets to shiver in the cold
10 - Neptune. The player loses a point.
11 - Pluto.The player misses a chance.
12 - ISS. The player enjoys to attend a workshop at ISS and gains 5 points.
The game continues until all the player loses their lives (the three strips of cello tape!!!).

Noting the points scored by the Astronauts...

And the space travel begins...!

This is "Mission Mangalyan" band..!! Those who land on Mars would get to wear this, until the next Astronaut reaches Mars...

Lost a life after landing on the Sun...

The coincidence was all three of them lost a life at the same time..! They all got to land at the Sun one after the other!! And you know what they did...