Preschool Lessons Stars

These preschool lessons stars will work wonderfully in a unit on the sky or space. You can also use it on its own. After teaching this lesson, your students will be able to identify the shape of a star and tell you where a star is located.

Materials

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Iza Trapani

White construction paper (9x12)

Black or blue watercolor paint

Paintbrushes

Star stencils

Crayons

Pictures of shapes, including a star

Prior Knowledge

Sing the first verse of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star together as a class.

Teach

Ask your class what they see when they look up in the sky at night. Talk about how they see stars. Explain to your students that stars are made up of gas and light up the night sky. Show students the cover of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Have students make predictions about what the story will be about. Read the story stopping to discuss what is going on.

Procedure

You will either need to make or purchase star stencils before doing this lesson. They need to be different sizes. Star cookie cutters make an excellent choice for stencils. You could easily make your own stencils using cardstock. Explain to the students that today they are going to make their very own starry scene. Pass out the white construction paper and paintbrushes. Tell students that they are going to paint the night sky. Pass out the paint. Let students choose black or blue. Allow paint to dry. Be sure to put students’ names on the back of their paintings.

It is a good idea to have a piece of construction paper painted to use as an example. Show students the stencils and point out the shape of them. Then, show students how to use the stencils with the crayons. After the paint has dried, pass the paintings back out to your students. Pass out the star stencils and the crayons. Allow students to place stars of various colors on their skies.

These star paintings would make a great bulletin board display or hallway decoration. A wonderful bulletin board title would be “Lovely Little Stars.”

Assess

During free play time, have students come up one at a time. Show them three or four different shapes, including a star. Have them pick out the star. Then, ask students to tell you where stars are located.

Extend

Teach additional lesson plans about the night sky. Teach your students about constellations.You can also teach your students about the phases of the moon and the planets.

Read more lesson plans about stars right here at Bright Hub!

<em>Find Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star</em> by Iza Trapani