Space: Astronauts

Today  was a very busy day. It was our last session before the break and we had decorations up and took astronauts pictures with the help of our astronaut poster.









 

We practiced being kind by designing a Thank You poster for everyone at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay, our Clubhouse site. We used stamps made out of potatoes and also glued pictures of us onto the board.

We also played one of our favorite games again. We pretended to be planets and danced around the sun. This game quickly turned into a break dancing game. We had a blast!

Space: Paper Mache (part 2); Rocketship Turn-Taking Games

Art Project “Paper Mache Planets” (Part 2): We were excited that we got to finish our planets today by painting our hardened paper mache. We split up in two small groups and our task was to work together and to cover the whole paper mache balloon with paint. But first, we had to decide as a group what planet we wanted to make and pick the paint color accordingly. We looked at a picture of the different planets and then one group decided to make the sun and the other the planet Saturn. 

After we finished our art project we had a snack and then played some fun board games. The older kids in the group played the following game: 

Rocketship Cooperative Board Game: The objective of the game was to move all game pawns (our pretend astronauts) across the board to the rocketships. We used a color and number dice at the same time but the twist was that we did not pick a colored pawn but all worked as a team to get to the finish line. When the pawn landed on a colored circle, the player drew an action/question card. 

Here are some examples of the action/question cards.

   
The younger Clubhouse students played a fun rocketship matching game. 

Rocketship Matching Game: Each player chooses a game card with different colored rocketships. A bowl with corresponding colored rocketships is passed from one player to the next. The player whose turn it is draws a rocketship out of a container without being able to see what color it is. If the player draws a color that is represented on his or her own board, the player can match the rocketship to his/her on board or he/she can ask the other players if they need the color that was drawn. The player who has matched all colors on his board wins the game.

Space: Paper Mache Planets, Part 1

Walking on the Moon (Adapted Red Light/Green Light Game): We absolutely loved this game. We pretended to move like astronauts when the astronaut sign was up and had to stop moving when the red stop sign was held up. We took turns holding the signs and some of us even partnered up, i.e., one of us being in charge of the "stop" sign and one of us of the "astronaut" sign.

Art Project “Paper Mache Planets”: The paper mache art project was very popular today,  We worked in small groups. First, we created the paste for our project and then we started making our planets (the first step).

Flour Paste Recipe (for paper mache)

     1 cup flour
1 1/2cups water
1/2 TBS salt (optional)
1/4 cup white glue

      
      




Directions
Mix the flour and water together with a wire whisk or spoon until it is smooth and you have the consistency you want, should be similar to a heavy cream or a cream soup. If you want to thicken the paste, add flour. If you want to thin it, add a bit of water. 
Mix in the salt. Mix in the glue. The salt will help preserve the paste and prevent it from mold while the glue will help strengthen the paste. 

Blow up balloon, tie, let kids glue on strips of newspaper until the whole balloon is covered. Layering is recommended.