N - Nighttime Adventures

Nn Nighttime Adventures

Letter: Nn

Number: 14

Learn about:

Children will have fun learning that night and dark are not so scary. They will learn about the different phases of the moon, the special moon celebration, and more. Children will create moons from biscuit dough. They will learn that in the Northern Hemisphere people see the man in the moon but in the Southern Hemisphere they see something else. They will learn about nighttime animals and make a nighttime mobile and more This is not a very long unit as preschoolers can only understand limited information regarding the planets and such, but there are some fun things to do and I am sure they will like participating.

Letter and Number Activities:
Using the letter N outline do one of the following
Print what scares you about the nighttime in the outline.
Color a nighttime picture inside the outline.
Glue on items that begin with the letter N.
Cut the outline out and paste it on construction paper.
Paint the outline by using a nut shell like you would use a sponge
Sponge paint the outline with a letter N sponge

Using the number 14 outline do one of the following:
Place 14 stickers inside the outline.
Color the outline your favorite color.
Draw 14 moons in the number outline
Sponge paint 14 letter M’s in the outline

Learning Activities
Nighttime animals Owls are different from other birds, they have large heads, and groups of feathers that look like ears, and there are actually ears under the feathers. They have very large eyes and very good sight, but can only look straight ahead, they cannot move their eyes like us, they must turn their entire head to see from side to side.

Activities:
Keep your eyes straight ahead, turn your head to look left and right, be sure not to let your eyes move.

Pretend you are an owl on a perch at night, what you look for and how would you see it? Remember how to move your head?

Owls are nocturnal, that means they choose to be awake and feed and night. There are other nocturnal animals, some of these are fireflies, bats, mice, raccoons and possums. The reason these animals choose to be awake at night and to feed at night is because it is not as hot, or they are more afraid of the daylight because other animals may see them, or there are less animals that hunt for food at night so it is easier for them to find their meals.

Activity: Draw a picture about yourself being a nocturnal animal. What nocturnal are you? Why did you choose that animal? Why are you nocturnal, is because of the day time heat, other animals seeing you or not having to fight for food?

Being nocturnal does not just mean these animals see better at night, it means that they use their other senses like hearing and smelling to keep themselves safe and from harm. Nocturnal animals have proportionally bigger eyes than humans do. They also have pupils that open more widely in low light. So nocturnal eyes gather more light than human eyes do.

Activity: Go outside at night and have a blindfold on. Sit on the porch, can you tell what is happening around you by your hearing and smelling. Have an adult turn you around three times and lead to a different area by your hand. Can you tell where you are by the different sounds? Are you closer to the road because you can hear the cars, are you closer to the neighbors yard because you can hear their dog bark, are you near a trash can because you can smell it? What else do you hear? Do you hear other nocturnal animals and insects? (You can do this day blindfolded also).

Stories:
Get a book about nocturnal animals and nocturnal insects. Learn about one of them specifically. Find out why they are nocturnal, what the eat, where they live, etc.

In this Nighttime theme unit we will learn about one of the most the most common nighttime creatures:

The Bat!

Bats

Bats are a mammal and live in many places, they live in bat houses that people place in their yards, these bat houses look like bird houses but the bat enter from the bottom. Some bats live under big leaves in the trees, under tree bark, in caves, some bats even live old buildings and houses, if there is an opening to get in. They like to be protected from the weather and outdoor elements. Bats are the only mammal that can fly.

As the sun goes down, bats like to start searching for their food. There are many species of bats. The most common in our areas is the brown bat. Some bats species like to eat fruit, while others like to eat nectar from night blooming flowers. Some species of bats like to eat little fish and they catch them with their claws and another species like to eat meat. Most bats like the brown bat, eat insects. Bats are considered one of natures best bug control.

Bat Parts
A bat has feet, these feet help them hang upside down and help the fishing bats catch their food.
A bat has wings, these wings help them fly, in their wings they have little bones like fingers.
A bat has a fury body to help it hide and help keep it warm in the winter months.
A bat has eyes, it is not true that bats are blind, but they do see better in the dark.
A bat has a nose to help smell their food.
A bat has ears, bats have excellent hearing and this also helps them find their food.

Hands On Activities

Who’s Afraid. You?
Talk about the nighttime fears that the child has. Explain the difference between real fears and unrealistic fears. Have them solve their fear problem such as, if they are afraid of the dark, they may leave a night light on, if they are afraid of sound, they might listen to quite music, etc. What might solution be to thunder and lightning?

Activity: If possible go into a dark room, one without windows. Listen carefully for noises, can you identify the noises you hear? Do these noises sound different to you at night when you are in bed or different than in the day when you are playing?

Dreams
A dream is a story that your brain makes up while you are sleeping. Dreams are not real but they can be scary. Sometimes we have bad dreams and sometimes we have good dreams. Some people talk in their sleep when they are having a dream.

Creative Writing
Have the child tell about the last scary dream they had. Now have them retell the dream with a funny ending instead of a scary one. Pretend you hear a scary noise at night, now pretend that the noise is something silly. Like if you hear the stairs creaking, pretend it is really something silly, what silly thing might it be? If the child cannot write, you will have to do so for them. Draw pictures to match the creative writing page.

Sleeping
People sleep at night, this is the time their body needs to rest keep strong. We sleep laying down, how do some of the animals you have learned about sleep? Like the owl or a bat? Do you think you could sleep standing up or hanging upside down?

Paper Bag Puppet
Make a paper bag puppet of your favorite nighttime animal. Use markers, felt, pipe cleaners, construction paper scraps, fabric scraps, wiggly eyes, etc. to design it.

Mobile
Make a mobile from some of the patterns provided. It could be a nighttime animals or a planet and stars mobile. Or make one from the bat pattern, and remember to discuss what you have learned about bats.

Camping Out
Have a real or pretend camp out in the back yard. Set up a tent, prepare it with a sleeping bag, flashlight, etc. Plan some special nighttime activities such as searching for nighttime animals, looking up at the sky, having a campfire, listening to the night sounds, or just relax and enjoy the outdoors.

Dream Catchers
Have the child decorate a wooden embroidery hoop with markers. Separate the inner and outer hoops. Lightly spray the outer edge of the inner hoop with spray adhesive, or place double face tape on the outer edge (this help with younger children by keeping the string where they place it. Be sure they only hold it by the outside of the rim where there is no adhesive or tape.), or assist them for the next step. Wrap embroidery string around the hoop so it passes over the round opening, kind of like making a spider web. Every so often place a bead on the string. Keep wrapping about 10-15 times or to your liking. Take one piece of string about 8” long and tie it so it hangs down from the bottom center, place a few beads on it and a feather if you like. Put the outer ring back on to hold the string in place, make sure it is good and tight. Tie strings on both sides with beads and feathers.

Have the child hang the dream catcher in their room. The dream catchers purpose is to catch those bad dreams and only allow good dreams.

Astronomical

Stars and Planets
Now it’ time to learn about the nighttime sky. When you look up at the sky at night what do you see? Have you ever seen a shooting star? Get a book or poster on planets, which planet do you like best and why?

Activity: Draw your own made up planet, what shape is it? What is it’s name? Is there life on your planet?

Find out the answers to the following questions
1) What is the Milky way
2) What is the difference between a planet and a star?

Solar System
Make a solar system right in your back yard, here is what you do to see how far the planets are away from each other. Because this is at a preschool level we will put the planets in one straight line. You can use ping pong balls, golf balls, balloons, etc, to represent each planet. This activity only represents distance, not size or position.

1) Start with the sun place one marker that says Sun here.
2). Mercury - take one step and place a Mercury marker

3). Venus - take 1 more step and place a Venus marker

4). Earth - take 1 step and place an earth marker, place a moon marker about an inch
away
5). Mars - take 1 more step and place a Mars marker here

6). Jupiter - take 9 steps and place a Jupiter marker here

7). Saturn - take 12 more steps and place a Saturn marker here

8). Uranus - take 25 more steps and place a Uranus marker here

9). Neptune - take 28 more steps and place a Neptune marker here

10). Pluto - take 25 more steps and place a Pluto marker here.

When you have placed the last marker, look back and see how far away each planet is.

Learning About The Moon
The moon has many phases, these are just a few:
1) Full moon - you can see the entire round moon
2) Half moon - where you see exactly half of the moon
3) Quarter moon - even though it is called a quarter moon you still see half of the moon.
3) New moon - you cannot see at all
4) Crescent moon - when it looks like the top of your finger nail

Activity: Go outside tonight and see what phase the moon is in, draw it just like you see it, write the phase of the moon under your picture.

There is also a harvest moon - this occurs in September. The harvest moon appears larger than normal because it is rising at lower angle than usual.

Celebrations of the Moon
September, the month of the harvest moon is when the Chinese hold a special celebration. Some celebrate the moons birthday, others just celebrate due to tradition. They make moon cakes and fill them with nuts and fruits.

Celebration Treats
Use store purchased biscuit dough for the following two activities:

1) Buy crescent rolls, have the child shape the rolls and bake them, when done let cool and have a treat. They will enjoy eating the crescent moon.

2) Buy regular cheap old biscuits in a can, flatten out two pieces, one for the bottom one for the top, fill them with a pie filling and pinch the edges together. Bake, let cool and serve warm. They will enjoy eating a moon celebration treat.

3) With the same cheap biscuits in a can, have the child shape the biscuits in all the moon shapes they have learned about so far. Have fun eating all the different moons.

Man In The Moon
Some people in the norther hemisphere say there is a man in the moon? Have you ever seen him?

Activity: draw a picture of the man in the moon.

Some people in the southern hemisphere say there is a old woman holding twigs

Activity: draw the moon they way they see it in the southern hemisphere.

Sun Catchers
Use plastic lids from butter tubs and such, as clear as you can get. Brush on a light layer of glue, cover the lid with small pieces of tissue paper in different colors, you may have to add glue as you go. When it is completely covered, paint a very thin layer of glue over the entire covered area. Punch a hole in rim of plastic lid, then thread string through to make a hanger.

Game
Wise Old Owl Form a circle with the children if you have a group. One child remains outside the circle and is the Wise Old Owl. The wise old owl runs around the circle (like in Duck, Duck Goose), the wise old owl stops behind one child, taps their head and asks them a question, like is light or dark or night, what color is the sun, what color is the moon, any question that pertains to the theme. If the child answers correctly, they become the wise old owl. If not, they remain in the circle.