Space Themed Centers You HAVE to try in your Preschool Classroom

March 29, 2024By Brittany MacIntosh

3, 2, 1....BLAST OFF! This week we are jumping into our space theme in my preschool classroom! What I love about this theme is that I can pull it out anytime of the year and my students always LOVE it! What's not to love about planets, astronauts and of course I had to throw in an alien activity! If you are looking for space center ideas for your preK learners keep reading because I have so many fun activities to share!

Here's what we are focusing on this week:

Letter: Review
Color: Review
Shape: Review
Numbers: 1-20

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Space Preschool Story Time Books:

The Spacesuit: How a Seamstress Helped Put a Man on the Moon By: Alison Donald
Me and My Place in Space By Joan Sweeney
Pete the Cat: Out of this World By: James Dean
Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket By Sue Flies
On the Launch Pad By Michael Dahl

Day 1 Space PreK Activities:

Dress Up an Astronaut: Students can dress up their own astronaut with space clothing by re-creating the outfits on the each spacesuit card! Boy and girl mats have been provided (2 skin tones for each gender)

Space Shapes: Set up a sensory bin with beans (or any filler of your choice) and add in the asteroid shape cards. Students can pick a shape card, find the matching shape on the "Space Shapes" sheet and record the shape by coloring it in. Shapes included: circle, heart, crescent, hexagon, star, oval, rectangle, triangle, pentagon, square. (BW and color options have been provided for the Space Shapes sheet)

Day 2 Space PreK Activities:

What is in space?: Students get to make their own mini space book to work on early literacy skills. Each page has a different space item to color and trace the word. Pages included: Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, Saturn, Planets, Suns, Moons, Stars

My name is in space!: Work on learning name recognition with this space themed name craft. Easily edit each name using PowerPoint or use the pre-made star letters included in the PDF! Students can cut and paste each alphabet star to the space craft page to spell their name. (BW and color options have been provided for this craft)

Day 3 Space PreK Activities:

Planet Patterns: Students get to create patterns by using mini planets to fill up the "Planet Pattern" cards. 22 planet patterns have been provided to work on AB, ABC, AABB, ABBA, and ABCD patterns. For added fun, you can add the mini planets to a space themed sensory bin!

Constellation Creations: No prep craft to promote fine motor development! Just print each constellation craft page, then students can trace the lines and add star stickers to create their own constellations! Constellations included: Aries, Aquarius, Cancer, Capricorn, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Taurus, Virgo, Big Dipper, Bootes, Cygnus. Little Dipper, Orion, Triangulum

Day 4 Space PreK Activities:

Build a Rocket: Set up a fine motor center with counting cubes so that students can build a rocket to match the shapes on the mat! 28 Rocket cards included.

Space Exploration: Students get to build space on their mat by counting the correct number of each space themed items! Set up this center by filling a sorting tray with space loose parts and play dough! This math center focuses on counting numbers 1-20.

Day 5 Space PreK Activities:

Alphabet Star Sort: Fill up a sensory bin and add in lowercase and uppercase alphabet stars. Student can pick a star from the sensory bin and determine if it is an uppercase or lowercase letter and place it onto the correct area of the space mat.

Wacky Alien: Students will love building their own wacky alien by counting eyes, arms, legs, and stars! This math center focuses on counting numbers 1-20.