Activity Instructions

Part A: Discussion

Step 1.

Begin by going outside and inviting your child/ren to lie on the ground and look up at the sky. Have a discussion about what you see, with a focus on any shapes you might see in the clouds. For example:

I wonder if we can see some clouds?
I wonder what shapes the clouds make?
I wonder if we can see any animals or people in the clouds?

To find out more about how these types of questions help with oral language development, click here and here.

Step 2.

You could then ask your child/ren to close their eyes and imagine they are looking at the night sky:

I wonder what you see?
I wonder if you can see any shapes in the stars?
I wonder if you can see any people or animals in the stars?
How do they look different to the ones you saw in the clouds?

Explain to your child/ren that, unlike the clouds which are always shifting, moving and changing shape, the stars don’t really change (although depending on the time of the year, we might see different stars and the moon follows a monthly cycle).

Many traditional cultures - including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures - use the stars and the moon for light at night, and over many thousands of years have observed patterns and pictures in the stars and have passed this knowledge down through the generations. The pictures and patterns that they see tell them about the world around them, including how the world was created, when the seasons are changing, what the weather will be doing, when it is time to collect emu eggs and when to harvest materials for making baskets and mats.

The pictures that are seen in the stars are called constellations. The constellations often relate to the people and animals that are important to the culture. These articles (here and here) have some images of constellations you could share with your child/ren.

Part B: Activity

Step 1.

Explain to your child/ren that they will be creating their own constellations for an animal or person who is important to them. There are two ways you could do this:

Ask your child/ren to create a painting or drawing of someone or something that is important to them. When they are finished, they could add a series of star stickers to the drawing to represent the stars in the sky and to show the constellation.
Ask your child/ren to place some stars onto their paper. They can use their stars to guide their drawing of someone or something that is important to them (a bit like doing a dot-to-dot activity).

Encourage children to be creative with decorating their pictures. You could use glitter (try to avoid the glitter if you can or use nature’s glitter or bio-glitter) or other natural materials to decorate your artworks.

You could also ask your child/ren to create a story based on their constellation: who is in this constellation? Why are they important to you? What are they doing?

Finally, give your constellation a name and add a label to your artworks.

Take it further

Your child/ren may have their own ideas about how to extend this activity with the themes explored in this activity, or you could consider the following:

Head outside at nighttime to look at the stars. Where in the sky can you imagine seeing the constellations you created?
Create more space-themed artworks by using natural objects (such as leaves or seedpods) as paint stamps. Choose brightly coloured paints against black cardboard to create your artwork
Create some space-themed black playdough (add nature’s glitter or bio-glitter if you like) and invite your child/ren to create a space scene
Explore other Caring for Country Learn@Home activities.

Caring for Country: Space (home learning)

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