Pipe cleaner star constellations! {free printable flash cards included!}
Last week kicked off week one of Summer school for us. I shared a post a week or so ago, sharing our summer school plans and last week we learned all about Space. So I thought, as something fun to craft we would create our own star constellations using pipe cleaners. Like any house, we have a craft box and that box just so happens to house quite a few pipe cleaners that are never ever used for anything! But will now help to teach Annabelle star constellations such as the little dipper, Orion’s belt, the big dipper, Cassiopeia and more.
Why learn about Space?
Well, why not? Also, a little birdie told me that this is one of the topics they’ll be learning all about when they go back to school in September. But, let’s be honest, school is never going to be the same again {or for quite some time at least!} so I’m teaching her a few basics to prevent her feeling any sense of overwhelm. Plus, space is such a cool topic that shouldn’t be just for the classroom, you know?
Annabelle has loved the topic of Space for about a year now. She can occasionally be found on the NASA Kids website, reading up on her favourite planets. Which, if your curious is Mars & Neptune! She also loved learning all about Neil Armstrong to earn one of her badges for the Beaver Scouts just before Christmas last year.
What is a star constellation?
A group of visible stars in our night sky is known as a constellation. They form a pattern which can take the form of anything from a man, a mythical creature, an animal etc. You can grab your telescope {which we don’t have, yet!} or binoculars {now those we do have!} and see what you can see!
Make your own Star card constellations!
This is one aspect of space that we haven’t looked into. Which blows my mind because, in my opinion, it’s one of the coolest parts of our solar system. I have created a small collection of free star constellation flashcard printables, just in case you have a little space-loving person in your house, too. These were super fun to make and the only other things you’ll need are pipe cleaners and star beads.
You obviously don’t need to use star beads, I just bought those because it was a space theme. But any beads that can be threaded onto pipe cleaners will do. This is such a great little activity for kids of all ages to do and it’s also a great visual learning aid, as well.
To follow up from this Star Constellation activity, I thought it would be fun to sit out in the garden, with chairs and cosy blankets {and our binoculars!} and see if we can spot the constellations in our night sky. I never tire of catching a glimpse of Orion’s belt, or the Big Dipper. I just hope Annabelle enjoys spotting them too! We might even toast a few marshmallows why we’re out there, because why not!ย
Our Pipe Cleaner Star Constellation creations
Annabelle had a fun time making these pipe cleaner star constellations. There were pipe cleaners everywhere! But sure, that’s part of the fun, isn’t it!
We stuck with the 5 most famous star constellations, that everyone can find! Making it a little easier for our little star gazing beginners! I might just do a second instalment and make a collection of the lesser-known constellations that we can spot in the sky at night.
However, for now, these are the star constellations we focused on:
- Gemini {Famously known as The twins}
- Orion’s Belt {known also, as The Hunter}
- The Big Dipper AKA Ursa Major {also known as The Great Bear}
- Ursa Minor AKA The little dipper {also known as Little Bear}
- Taurus {we all know as the bull}
Now, a little fact I did not know before putting this post together was that The Big Dipper isn’t a stand-alone star constellation. It is, in fact, part of a bigger constellation known as Ursa Major – did you know that? I didn’t, so that’s pretty cool.
Star Tracker App
To help Annabelle learn more about the stars in the sky, I found this really cool Star Tracker app. It’s totally free but has a small charge of ยฃ0.99 to get rid of the ads, or ยฃ2.99 to unlock the full version of the app! It is the most beautiful app with some really relaxing music! You could just lie on your garden and stare up, getting lost in the constellations, easily! It’s quite something looking up and trying to find certain star constellations. And it was super cool hearing her get so excited about spotting Cassiopeia or Saturn and asking “What is a Nebula?” – which just opens a whole new exciting topic, doesn’t it!?
Anyways, if you aren’t aware of the app, do check it out. We love it. This isn’t an AD in any way, just something we found, that we really love and thought we would share!
Download your free printable star constellation flashcards!
I have created a set of five free star constellation flashcards, with a set of fact flashcards too. I printed these off, glued them back to back and them laminated them for my daughter. They’ve been so much fun to learn from. Annabelle has really enjoyed it and also loved copying them to create her own pipe cleaner star constellations.
Star Constellation flashcard printable’s:
- Ursa Minor & Taurus flashcard printable
- The Big Dipper and Gemini star constellation printables
- Orion star constellation flash card printable
Star constellation fact flashcard printable’s:
And there you go. A set of 5 star constellation flashcards, of the 5 most famous and easy to spot constellations.
To make them doubled-sided I just printed them off, cut them out, glued them together and laminated them to make them more durable and easy to be kept clean. If you don’t have a laminator, then I’d suggest investing {they cost around ยฃ10} and I honestly adore mine. I use it all the time! As for laminating sheets? ยฃ1 for a pack of 10 from your local Poundland. So, a worthwhile investment for all of your laminating needs!
I really hope you and your little stargazer enjoy these star constellation flashcards, as I enjoyed creating them. And if you do download them to use, then please do tag me on Super Busy Mum over on my Instagram – I’d love to see them in use!
PIN THEM FOR LATER!
These are amazing! I was searching for something like this, but this is better than I could have dreamt of! Thank you sooo much!
If you do think about doing those lesser known constellations, that would be awesome!
Thank you for your hard work! =)