Solar System Week: Shooting Stars

Look!  Some shooting stars...

Little Mama and I started off our morning with the usual--coffee for mom, OJ for Little Mama, and a discussion about the stars.  The Sun is My Favorite Star, by Frank Asch was a great book to kick things off.  The text is simple, repetitive, and has great illustrations.  There's a picture of shooting stars in the story, which served as inspiration for our first activity.   

Our stars activity began with a mysterious bag of buttons.  I've had this bag for quite some time now and Little Mama has seen them before.  She's even begged to play with them, but the timing has never been right.  That is, until today.  Her face lit up like a candle when I told her we were going to play with the buttons.  Who knew buttons would be so fun?   

Much to her anticipation, I poured them out into a bowl.  "Whoa! Look at all the buttons."  

The buttons were great for a sorting activity.  I put out several bowls and asked for some help, sorting out all the stars.  Nice job!  She went above and beyond and did a little more sorting.

Equipped with our stars, we brought out paper and glitter glue.  Shooting star time!  Little Mama attached the stars and I did the rest.  Then we counted them all up.  Ten stars for you Little Mama.

We decided to take things on the road today.  We headed to our local science center in search of more fun learning tools about the solar system.  (Thanks honey for the trip!)

Right when we entered, we were greeted by a giant Earth.  

It was an exhibit on earthquakes.  Yikes!

... Hmm, how does this work?  

See what happens when you drop in a penny, Little Mama?

Overall, it was a beautiful day with amazing views, although there wasn't too much about the solar system that was for appropriate for toddlers.  Little Mama didn't mind though--she had a great time.  I mean, who wouldn't on a day like today?  There wasn't a cloud in the sky.    

Check out the view

We managed to acquire an interesting postcard...

Overall, it was a great center with breathtaking views of the city.  I can only imagine what the views must look like under all the stars at night.  Amazing, I'm sure.