Space Exploration & Giveaway

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THE WINNER IS #5!! Congrats to ibeeeg! Your winnings are on the way!
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If you have flown (har, har) over here from 5 Minutes for Books, then welcome! If not, then you've gotta go read my sister post on books about space exploration for kids when you get a chance.

Since I have a boy, I'm interested in finding things that encourage him to imagine things "outside the box". I don't want him to look around at his little world and be content in it. I want him to WANT to explore and push out to discover new things. What better way to encourage imagination than to explore space? It's filled with so many things that we don't know, maybe can't know (and probably won't) as much as it also posseses the capacity to satisfy a person who craves knowledge on the topic. There is so much to explore in space and I'd like to give him a head start. So, like I said, I've been looking up books on airplanes and rockets.

Why airplanes? They are much easier to know and they are easier to introduce the concept of human flight with. He's been on an airplane recently and can identify with that experience. I talked about space books over at 5 Minutes for Books so here I'll introduce you to a few things I found relating to airplanes.

Since he's two, he really, really loved Usborne's That's Not My Plane. We learned the basic parts of an airplane with this book, such as the propeller, the wings, the wheels, etc. Since this book is textured, it provided us the opportunity to explore with our fingers and not just our eyes. I can't stress to you how much he has enjoyed this book. (Hence my new desire to explore more of Usborne's That's Not My . . . series. Awesome books.)



Secondly, we looked at Barefoot Book's I Wish I Were a Pilot which not only gets kids thinking about flying planes, but also includes other methods of transportation such as hot air balloons, yellow submarines, horses, bicycles and more. The little guy is a tremendous fan of wheels and anything that "goes 'round and 'round" so this appeals to his tastes. The illustrations are beautifully done in typical Barefoot Book fashion making this an instant hit as well.



Lastly, we checked out Safari's Space Toob. I've mentioned our use of Safari Toob's before I'm not a big fan of little figures spread throughout the house, but I do like Safari's miniature replicas of "big people things" which allow kids to engage in imaginative play with things like space ships and satallites. This particular kid has the Apollo space craft in it as well as a chimp! (Times have changed.) It's a pretty cool little set and offers fun side play when studying about space travel. Best yet - Safari has graciously offered to give away a Space Toob to one of you readers.

I'm also giving a way a Night Flight set from the Big Bear Shoppe as I mentioned over at 5 Minutes for Books. To win the Night Flight set as well as the Space Toob, leave a comment in this post offering a recommendation for another space related book that I could read with my son. If you don't have a suggestion, that's ok. Let me know how you would use the Space Toob or Night Flight set and who with! U.S. Residents only place. The winner will be selected and announced on Monday, March 9th, 2009.


Enjoy! (We are.)

* I'll let you have two entries with a chance to win if you go poke around The Big Bear Shoppe and come back and leave a second comment telling me what other products of theirs you liked and found interesting. (You'll be happy to note that you can find their products on Amazon.com for easy ordering but peek on their site first!)