In our homeschool, we’ve reached the era of the Space Race in the 1960’s! The kids and I are really enjoying this portion of history and science! It’s truly a fascinating and fun topic! We’re using a variety of resources, and I thought I’d list them for you here!
(For more ideas, check out my Pinterest board!)
Books
Thinking Tree Journal
We did not end up using this Thinking Tree Journal because we were only going to be learning about space for a week or two (now I wish I had gotten it because we ended up going much longer!) But I highly HIGHLY recommend all things Thinking Tree. The journals allow the kids to do their own research and dig deeper into topics that interest them. You just can’t design a curriculum more tailored than that.
I have successfully used a single journal with four of my kids at once. I simply let each child do the thing they like most. One of my children LOVES to illustrate. Another makes wonderful comics. One of my kids just likes to color. Another has beautiful handwriting. So when it comes to the pages asking for those kinds of activities, I have them work together on a page or switch off sections. The book gets filled up much faster too, and it becomes more feasible to use for a single unit, rather than an entire year.
Free Printables
We are using these space coloring pages for my littles, my youngest daughter enjoyed this planet matching page
And we are using elements from these FREE lapbooks: SPACE LAPBOOK//SPACE SHUTTLE LAPBOOK//PLANETS LAPBOOK
(Let me know if the links above don’t work; they are from Homeschool Share)
See my Pinterest for TONS more!
Amazon Prime Video
We watched a few documentaries on Amazon Prime Video as well. I figured since we have such incredible footage available to us, why not watch it first hand? When We Left Earth was excellent! And not too scary for all ages!
The older boys had a movie night with Dad and watched the 1995 movie: Apollo 13!
We followed up with a more detailed video on the Apollo 13 mission:
Hands-On Projects
I saw this cute idea to make a paper mache’ moon. I know, I know, it was a huge mess! But it’s been awhile since we’ve done a group project!
Materials:
Newspaper
Disposable Pie Tins (Dollar store had a pack of 3 for a dollar!)
Paper Mache goop (flour, water, a touch of liquid glue)
Paint (we used acrylic)
Flaxseed or Cornmeal to add texture (optional)(Only my oldest did this; it was his idea!)
Tablecloth to protect your workspace
My oldest made a poster board about the Space Race! It includes a bunch of the firsts and also a timeline of events and a diagram of the rocket!
I think he did a great job!
There were plenty more ideas on how kids can make their own space suits, jet packs, and space helmets, but we didn’t get to that. But man, it sounds fun! My Pinterest board has so much more for you to check out, along with worksheets, brainstorming activities, crossword puzzles, coloring pages, astronaut food…just tons more.
A couple of other ideas:
I hope these resources are useful to you! We had an absolute blast with this era of history and science! If you end up using one of these ideas in your homeschool, or just for fun, I’d love to hear about it!
~Jamie
(This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you, but opinions are all my own. Thank you for your support!)
No Delusions of Grandeur 