Hey, friends! We are still in full celebration of Black History and Black history in the making at our house. I am excited to share two fun craft ideas with you today. Our first craft is in celebration of a Black History legend, and the second is in celebration of a Black male protagonist and his family!
Dr. Mae Jemison’s Rocket Ship Craft
We are huge fans of Dr. Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel into space. She is an engineer, physician and former NASA astronaut–a true American trailblazer and role model. We read Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed, and illustrated by Stasia Burrington, often. It tells the story of Dr. Jemison from when she was a young girl. It speaks about her dreaming about dancing in space, and how she’s powered toward that dream with determination, intelligence and encouragement from her parents. I highly recommend this book!
We used some simple art supplies to recreate her rocket ship. In my attempt to add in some shape reinforcement, I asked Zarie and Raegan to name the shapes aloud, as we went along. Other than that, I let them do their own thing. They used bottles of glow-in-the-dark puff paint to create stars and moons and planets to their crafty little solar system. Go dig into your craft bin and see what supplies your little can use to dream up a mini galaxy.
Raegan and Zarie got really fun mini instant cameras for Christmas. We decided to take photos of them and place them inside of their rocket ships, as they pretended to be just like Dr. Mae Jemison! I helped Raegan cut holes in a piece of construction paper, and we used glue to put the girls inside. Such a fun little addition.
No camera? No problem. Let your littles draw a mini Mae in the rocket ship window. Multicultural crayons are a perfect way to let your littles create diverse skin tones.
Read the book together and then get creative!
Supplies:
- Mae Among the Stars HERE
- Construction Paper HERE (1 square/rectangle, 2-4 diamonds, 2 right triangles, 1 isosceles triangle + whatever shape you want your window)
- Scissors
- Glue HERE
- Glow-in-the-dark Puff Paint HERE (use code loveooly5)
- Instant Camera HERE
- Multicultural Crayons HERE
Color-In Rainy Day Rocket Ship
Another amazing book that I recommend is My Rainy Day Rocket Ship by Markette Sheppard, and illustrated by Charly Palmer. It is such a visually stunning book that tells the story of a little boy who, on a rainy day, creates his own rocket ship, from everyday household items! I personally love that the book shares the story of a black boy (and his father) as the main character. This is unfortunately rare in children’s picture books. It is a must for your next trip to the library or Amazon wishlist.
“My Rainy Day Rocket Ship is a high-spirited, engaging salute to the imagination of Black boys who use their beautiful minds to transform the mundane into the extraordinary, dream out loud, and boldly go where their sky is the only limit.”
I snagged a really fun tabletop cardboard rocket ship for the girls to color in after we read the book. They had so much fun with this, and then creating astronauts out of all of their Barbie dolls. The rocket ship itself is really cool, but if you’re in a season of saving, find a way to create a rocket ship at home. That is, in fact, what our protagonist does!
Supplies:
- Cardboard Rocket HERE
- Crayons
- Markers
Snack Idea:
Y’all, I am always looking for simple ways to make everyday moments just a little bit more magical. Since we were going with a space theme, I figured it would be fun to keep that going with snacks. I snagged some of these cheddar rocket ship crackers from Trader Joes. I also added in a couple of space themed food picks that I had left over from my Out of This World Space Party shoot!
I hope I’ve given you a bit of inspo to learn and create! Be sure to tag me on Instagram if you create your own rocket ships!
xoxo
Shakira
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