Space & Art Activities

This book gave us the perfect art extension for our study of astronomy. Each of the twenty projects is presented in a two page spread. The left hand page gives a surprising amount of scientific information about the topic. The right hand page illustrates a creative art project for the topic. Most of the projects could be made without highly specialized art supplies; many projects used items such as tissue paper, glitter, wire, glue, sequins, paint, cardboard, etc. We had most of the supplies on hand; all could be easily purchased at a craft store. I particularly liked the fact that these art projects were not cut-and-paste "cookie cutter" projects; each child will end up with an impressive looking original creation all his own. There may be a moderate amount of mess from paint and glitter involved, though! I used this book in a homeschool setting with a ten-year-old and a five-year-old. Most of the projects were too difficult for the younger child to do without help, although she enjoyed doing them with my assistance. Still, the book is probably best suited for ages 8-12. I had a chance to examine this book in the bookstore at Kennedy Space Center before purchasing it. However, I was so pleased that I plan to buy other books in the series sight-unseen to coordinate with future science studies. It was exactly what we needed to make our science study interdisciplinary and three-dimensional.