February 20: John Glenn Becomes First Man to Orbit Moon (1962)

image from Wikipedia.org

To celebrate the day, kids can play this space-themed game:

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Satellite

Materials:

• A chair

Directions:

1. The astronaut begins in the middle of the play area touching a chair (a spaceship).
2. The astronaut can leave the spaceship for only ten seconds at a time before he/she must go back for air.
3. During the ten seconds, the astronaut tries to capture as many satellites (other players) as possible.
4. Any satellite tagged by the astronaut goes to the chair and becomes another astronaut.
5. If an astronaut fails to make it back to the ship in ten seconds, then one satellite must be given up.
6. Play continues untl only one satellite remains. This person becomes the new astronaut.

Source(s): Toolbox Training’s book 100 Game Activities for Kids (activity A14)

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Check out the full February calendar. It includes floating holidays, specialty weeks, and specialty months.

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July 20: First Landing on the Moon (1969)

image from dashboardcitizen.com

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Planning a Trip to the Moon

Materials:

• children’s books on the moon, find suggestions at astrosociety.org
• paper and writing material or computer
• props as chosen by kids

Directions:

1. Ask kids what they would take on a trip to the moon.
2. How long do they think it will take to get to the moon?
3. What supplies would they need?
4. What do they need most?
5. What won’t work on the moon?
6. What will the kids do when they get to the moon?
7. What do they think they’ll find on the moon?
8. What materials do you have in your program which could be used for a prop box?

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Check out the full July calendar. It includes floating holidays, specialty weeks, and specialty months.

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