Prepare for Launch

We are launching a two week unit about space on Tuesday.  This is the first year, in my 7 years of kindergarten, that I have had a space theme.  I didn't have many resources and wasn't too excited about it.  We had a teacher work day on Friday, and the ideas started flowing while I was working.

I knew I wanted to make a rocket/spaceship for my dramatic play center. Not being the most creative person who can visualize these things, this was a challenge.  I wanted to be able to use it again next year, but not have something huge to store.  This is what I came up with:

I used an overhead projector to trace a rocket on a gray shower curtain. I cut out a hole (window) for students to look out.  I then taped the shower curtain to a stove box using packing tape.  A hole was cut in the back of the box for students to enter and exit the rocket.  The U.S.A. is created using foam and our Ellison.  I will just take the shower curtain off the box to store for next year.

To the side is a "command center" with an old broken laptop, a head set and a phone.  The student "astronaut" has an astronaut uniform jacket and helmet with a head set.  Looking forward to sharing pictures with you next week as students explore this center!  Our curriculum puts a huge focus on theme vocabulary, so I'm hoping this will bring out lots of conversation and vocabulary!

A colleague requested a little math game I made (not sure where the original idea came from...most likely pinterest!) to go with our space theme.

The game includes numbers 0-20.  The numbers are to be cut apart and placed in a pocket chart.  I use a Target $1 bin pocket chart (which I also recently saw at Dollar Tree!).  Behind 3 numbers, you had a little alien card.  Students must guess (using number names) which cards are hiding an alien card.  The game ends when all 3 alien cards are found.  I uploaded it on TpT as a freebie.

What ideas do you have for a space theme?