If You Decide To Go To The Moon

"If you decide to go to the moon
in your own rocket ship,
read this book before you start.

It will tell you how to get there
and what to do after you land.
the most important part tells
you how to get home.

This is my new favorite children's book. I love science, especially astronomy. Lizzy has inherited this same love. She even wanted Astronaut Barbie for Christmas! It is our turn to host preschool in our home this week. We chose to focus our activities on this book. Our little astronauts exercised, packed a good astronaut lunch (did you know astronauts actually eat pretty normal food in space. They can't eat anything with crumbs, such as bread. the crumbs could interfere with their experiments or even worse, the astronauts could inhale the bread and cause serious problems.)

Once our bags were packed, we suited up for our trip, hopped aboard our space ships and blasted off into space. The kids didn't have any problem at all using their imagination to float around in space and land on the moon. After eating our lunch and playing a fun game of "ring around the rosies" anti-gravity style, we headed back home to Earth.

It is the ending of the aforementioned book I love so much...

Whenever you feel discouraged [on your journey],
look through your porthole.
You will see a beautiful sight -
Earth, surrounded by stars,
shining like a blue-and-white ball
on a Christmas tree.

The nearer you get to Earth,
the more wonderful Earth will seem.
Your trip is almost over.
Your ship has reached the atmosphere.
You drop down through clouds and land on green grass.

You jump out, thankful for
a miraculous journey and a safe return.
As you bend down to kiss the ground,
you promise you will always do your best
to protect all life on our beautiful Earth.

Luckily the kids didn't notice my tears as we read the story.