Twinkle, Twinkle

Personal Social and Emotional

During circle time, introduce the idea of making a wish upon a shooting star. Pass a star toy or picture around the circle and encourage children to share their ideas about something they would wish for.   Hide some plastic stars around the outside area. Invite children to work together to find all the stars. How many can they find? Can they work together so that each person finds a star?

Communication and Language                        

Hide some plastic stars around the outside area. Make simple telescopes using cardboard tubes and invite the children to look out for the stars and tell each other what they can see.     Using picture sequencing cards for ‘Twinkle Twinkle’, encourage the children to place in order the picture cards, as they sing the rhyme.

Physical Development

Make some play dough with the children and use it to create some play dough stars. Encourage the children to knead and roll out the dough and cut out different size star shapes.   Finger painting stars onto a black piece of paper. Support children to dip their fingers into silver paint and press onto black paper. Invite them to explore the different marks they can make. Can they make a shooting star by dragging their finger across the paper.                                                                                                    

Literacy

Learn the rhyme ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ to recite as a group. Encourage children to join in with the words and some simple actions.

Mathematics

Star Shape Puzzle. Using a large star picture cut into 5 triangles and one pentagon, can the children fit the shapes back together to make a star. Can they name the shapes they have used? Can you make other shapes?

Understanding the World                                                      

Talk about what time of the day you can see stars. Create a collection of glow in the dark materials and light-up toys for children to explore with an adult. Include glow in the dark stars, glow sticks and torches. Turn off the lights and encourage children to talk about what they can see and how to make the items work.

Expressive Art and Design

Provide a selection of twinkling instruments along with a copy of the rhyme ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. Encourage children to add sound effects to the rhyme as they sing. You could use triangles, chime bars, bells, and wind chimes. Explore different techniques to create stars, such as flicking paint from a toothbrush on to black paper.                                    

Focused Vocabulary

Star, Twinkle, Little, World, Nursery Rhyme.