Some of my fondest memories of science as a kid were looking into the night sky with my Mom in search of the Big Dipper and another time trying to spot Halley’s Comet with my granddaddy’s old telescope. So it warms my heart when today my daughter tells me that when she grows up she wants to be the first person on Mars. As her mom I cringe a little thinking of the long journey and the dangers of space travel, but I also want to help her reach for the stars. So, we decided to make an an easy no-sew pillow with a glow in the dark Big Dipper design to keep her dreaming big dreams while teaching her about my favorite constellation. Read on to find out our favorite inspiring book to snuggle up with to learn more an amazing role model and female astronaut!
Also, this post will be featured with the 2019 Storybook Science series on the Inspiration Laboratories blog. Check out this series for most posts about science activities you can do with STEM books here.
What you need: two 22” X 22” navy scarves, dark fabric transfer sheets, poly fil, scissors, iron, chalk, and The Big Dipper Pattern found here.
What you do:
- Wash and iron two scarves
- Press the two scarves together and pin if needed
- Measure a 2”border around the top scarf and mark with chalk. This will make a 18”X18” pillow
- Cut 1” slits around the edge of the scarf up to the chalk line
- Cut corner squares and remove
- Print out the stars from The Big Dipper design on transfer paper and cut the stars out.
- Flip the top scarf over so the chalk is on the inside of the pillow
- Arrange the stars in The Big Dipper Pattern
- Follow instructions on transfer paper to adhere the stars with an iron
- Tie the top and bottom scarf together by making knots in the 1” slits around the pillow
- Leave a small opening in a corner and stuff the pillow with Poly fil
- Tie the remaining 1” slits to complete the pillow
Now that we have our cozy constellation pillow, I wanted to introduce my daughter to one of my heroes, Mae Jemison.
What I love about Mae Jemison is that she isn’t just an astronaut. She is a dancer, a chemical engineer, an author, a doctor, a teacher, an actress… She is an amazing role model for our multi-talented creative science loving girls.
This book is beautifully illustrated and my daughter loves it. Her eyes just light up when she read all about Mae’s creative adventures and accomplishments. And the best part is… when we’re done reading we turn out the light and our Big Dipper pillow glows while she dreams her big dreams.
Make sure you check out Inspiration Laboratories for the full list of Story Book Science posts that includes STEM challenges, citizen science, space, and environmental activities!
The Big Dipper Pillow was originally published for Go Science Girls in 2017. (We love our pillow that much we had to share again!) Also, this post contains affiliate links! Thank you!
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