Extra Activities
Sensory Bin
Any base that’s black. It could be dried black beans, but that’s not ideal for younger kids who are sticking things in ears or noses. Pluffle would work as well as dyed rice/salt. You could even do black pom poms. Only additional things to add would be scoops, funnels, and containers to fill. As they play with this it’s a good time to bring up the big ideas and discussion questions.
Start with the Singularity:
- Roll a tiny ball of play-dough—no bigger than a bean.
- Explain that this represents the singularity, the point where all matter and energy in the universe were once contained. It had no size, but for our model, we start small.
The Big Bang:
- Have the child squash the dot with their fingers.
- Say something like:“BOOM! About 13.8 billion years ago, the universe began expanding from this tiny point.
- There was no explosion like a bomb, but everything began stretching outward really fast.”
- Slowly pull and roll the dough into a long line, showing the expansion of the universe over time.
- Emphasize that space itself is stretching, not just matter moving through it.