The night sky is so vast and full of wonder, many curious little explorers have questioned what is out there. A night time nature hike, a good set of nighttime books, and an open ended art exploration may give your little learner a little bit more information and vocabulary about the night sky.
Nighttime Themed Preschool Activities
Whooo likes owls??? ME!!!
Owl Books for Kids
We like to start many of our adventures with a set of good books. Our nighttime collection is set in a small basket next to our favorite reading chair and consists mostly of owl books. (because I really like owls!) After lunch every day, we read together. Reading the same collection of books over and over again is great for building vocabulary and the rhythm of words.
Here are just a few of the nighttime books available that we have read.
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Owls: An informative book for the young reader about owls.
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National Geographic Readers: Owls
: It is no secret, I LOVE any and every National Geographic book that I’ve read. This owl level one reader is no exception and is an easy kid favorite non-fiction read.
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Owls (Kids Can Press Wildlife)
From the habitat to raising young, readers will learn more about owls in this picture book.
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Owl Babies
A favorite picture book by many, owls learn that mom always comes back.
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In My Tree
This book was given to us as a birthday gift and has been read so many times, the kids now read it to us. The layered tree and puppet make it a fabulous interactive book.
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Owl Moon
This story tells the tale of a child on an owl hike. Although very long winded, it is a delightful parent connection and leans well to taking your child on an owling adventure.
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Skip Hop: Who’s Hiding?
I’ve read this a minimum of 500 times already this week. No facts at all in this cute little tale, but my kids LOVE the lift the flaps!
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Brainstorming Nighttime Sky Words
Make a list of things in the nighttime sky.
The first thing my preschooler says is, “ghosts.” Then he giggles.
I explained that we were talking about real things that you can see in the sky.
He said,
the moon
stars
nothing
maybe an owl.
oh yeah, and bats!
I’m thinking I may need to dig out my books on the solar system now to expand this lesson even more!
Make a Night Owl Painting
Materials Needed:
- Paint
- Paintbrushes and or old toothbrush
- Paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pencil
Directions on how to make a night owl painting.
1. Have your child draw a large owl on the paper. Cut it out.
2. Discuss the colors of night. Introduce the concept of cool colors. Then let them paint the owl with cool colors. Look back in the books to see if the illustrators used cool colors too.
3. Using a toothbrush or paintbrush, splatter paint starts onto a black paper background.
4. Glue the owl onto the background and display.
Parent Tips
Head outside if you are worried about the mess. FIY – with splatter paint, there WILL be mess!
Don’t worry if their owl doesn’t look like what you had hoped preschool art is about the process, not the product. Our project turned out completely different than what I had in mind, but they all had a ton of fun! What you see is a child project. He is 4 years old and did everything but the cutting on his own. I would have let him, but he didn’t want to wait until the paint dried and it is really hard to cut wet paint!
For MORE Playful Preschool Nighttime Activities:
- Nighttime Alphabet Treasure Hunt at Growing Book by Book
- Glow in the Dark Letters Sensory Bin at Mom Inspired Life
- Shoe Box Constellations at Rainy Day Mum
Nighttime Sky Sensory Bin at Life Over C’s - Nocturnal Animals KWL Chart at Still Playing School
- Night Time Musical and Dance at Learning 2 Walk
- Create a Cricket Habitat and Do a Fun Science Experiment at Capri + 3
- The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh for #PlayfulPreschool at The Preschool Toolbox Blog
- Studying Bats with a Hide and Sonar-Seek Activity at Raising Lifelong Learners
- Night Time Sky with Playful Preschool at Powerful Mothering
- Book-Inspired Preschool Owl Craft at Fun-A-Day!
- Night Owl Painting and Books at The Educators’ Spin On It
And I was seriously in my love owls. Here are 10+ Owl Activities and Craft articles and learning inspiration here at The Educator’s Spin On It.
- Owl Science Afterschool with Owl Pellets
- Leaf Owl
- Owl Shaped Pizza
- Owl Apron
- Owl Costume Headband Tutorial
- Owl Handprint T-shirts
- Owl Costume and Tips for School Play
- Little Hoot Activities for Virtual Book Club for Kids
- Owl Themed Pregnancy Belly Painting with Siblings
- Owl Baby Quilt made with Siblings
- Owl Painting for Nursery or Kids room
Fantastic Owl – I love how great his art is we're very much at the squiggles and lines stage with T.
I've just discovered a fab new Owl Book in the UK – WOW said the Owl – all about colours and a little owl that stays up all day instead of going to sleep to see the world in colour.
Love that he says, "OWLS and BATS!":) The owl craft is a perfect extension for all the great books – nice post!
Such a cool owl. I now see if you don't have the great videos you will have the list of book for me.
Love the owl book titles! And the owl turned out so neat!
Love how that owl turned out! Precious!
That is a cute owl craft. I like the starry background. I have four enthusiastic artists who love to paint and will be more than ready to give this a try! Thank you for the great book list.
We have a Great Horned Owl that we can hear at night which is SO interesting to us right now!
Love the painting and the book recommendations!