Playful Weekends #1: Space Activities!
Hey Readers!
Welcome to a whole new avatar of the newsletter. After many issues over the past 46 weeks, I’ve learned a lot about the kinds of reading that all of you enjoy. One section of readers enjoys easy to ready, quick to implement reads that are all about new and innovative ways of playing, interacting, and learning with your children. Another, albeit smaller, section of readers enjoys longer, more critical reads on education, the science of learning, reflections, and so forth.
And so, here on out, I am going to re-brand these newsletters into “Playful Weekends” editions where each newsletter will carry:
A primary focus of the former - more actionable playful learning resources.
A secondary focus of the latter - links to interesting reads that go deeper into education and learning.
Please reply/comment if you have any feedback to share with me!
But now, back to the newsletter
Space Activities!
Are you a space-buff? Is your kid excited about space? If the answer to both are yes, then we’re in for a treat! A lot of us dreamt of being astronauts or building rockets as kids. With the rapidly evolving space technology sector, we’re seeing more and more investments, interest and opportunities expanding to be involved with space! In the next 10-20 years we could see more opportunities open up for space tourism and exploration of outer space.
That’s a pretty good reason to get your kid exposed to some of the basics of space through these fun activities from NASA!
Sounds of Mars (All ages) :
Did you know that if you were on mars, things would sound different to you than on earth? Because of the air pressure, density and chemical composition even sound waves would behave differently! In this activity you can test what you would sound like if you spoke in mars!
Astronaut Lander (Ages: 4 +) :
It’s pretty difficult to design a landing vehicle for astronauts to make sure they’re safe and healthy on impact! In this fun engineering, DIY activity you can design your own astronaut lander!
Link: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-an-astronaut-lander/
NASA pi challenge (Ages 12+):
If you’re interested in a math challenge, see how you can solve some real space problems using pi!
Link: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/images/activities/piday2021_infographic.png
Code a Mars sample collection game (Ages 6+):
If you love coding in scratch, here’s a fun way to understand how samples are collected on mars by the robot that humans have sent!
Link: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/code-a-mars-sample-collection-video-game/
Build a straw rocket (Ages 4+):
Using a straw to launch stuff is always fun! You can build your own straw rocket! (Remember to avoid straws that contain plastic)
Link: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-straw-rocket/
Try these out and let me know if you/your child enjoyed doing them!
An interesting note to parents, educators and caregivers
I stumbled upon this great read called ‘The secret to raising smart kids.' by Professor Carol S Dweck (Link). In particular the article had some great sections on what happens when you praise a child and how to praise effort over intelligence.
Do read, ruminate and share what you felt!
Have a playful weekend!
Prasanth