Alphabet Activity Letter Constellations

This simple alphabet activity is a snap to put together and combines fine motor development and letter recognition. I did this with my daughter who just turned 3; older children could be encouraged to add the star stickers as well as write the letters or whole words. This activity is part of our Alphabet For Starters series of posts that aim to introduce and play with letters in a fun creative way without pressure. Children learn best when they are free to explore and make positive connections with material and these activities aim to do that.  You can see our other posts here.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some black construction paper, chalk in various colors ( although just white would be an OK ), some star stickers and scissors.
2. Start by cutting your paper into smaller pieces. Write letters on the paper using the chalk. You can do this dry or wet for a more vibrant color.  I made a handful of letters, some my daughter is very familiar with ( letters in her name) some she doesn’t see as often.
3. Present all the letters and stickers to your child. Explain what a constellation is and that you’d be making them with letters. The way I explained it to my daughter was that they are shapes and drawings made when you connect the stars in the sky with pretend lines. I didn’t go into it any deeper than that for her but with an older child, you absolutely could.
4. Add the stars. For her age just peeling them off was hard work as was carefully placing them on the letter. Encourage and praise but make sure it’s not empty. I naturally say “Good job” a lot and have been trying to use more specific praise instead. Saying things like ” You worked hard to get that sticker off. ” is much more beneficial than an empty ” Good job!”
5. She happily made three letters, and I didn’t push her to make more. Instead, I placed them together with the stickers on a tray and made sure they were accessible for her to make more when she chose to. 

Space Themed Alphabet Book

A Is for Astronaut: Exploring Space from A to Z by Traci N. Todd is a typical themed alphabet book that is atypically funky. The vintage illustrations and historical photos from NASA makes this book stand out from other similar books. Each letter represents a number of space related items and the historical photos are so powerful in this because it bridges the gap from being a story to being information that children are eager to dive into further. There is something so powerful about a photograph to make that connection that this really happened, these guys really walked on the moon in “the olden days” as my son calls any time before his birth in 2006.