Blast Off! Rockets, Astronauts and the Moon

2 min Magic Box hook

Shake the box, hold it to your ear. Whole class chants:

Peek in. Gasp. Whisper: “Something in here wants to GO somewhere.” Pull out the rocket, slowly, nose first.

Throw it high and catch it. “Up!” Everyone's arms shoot up with it.

4 min Teach · rocket, up, blast off

Rocket on your palm, low on the floor. Say the word, do the word, three times each, bigger every time:

Littles just crouch and jump and shout the one word: “Blast off!” Bigs say the whole frame: “My rocket goes up.”

Teacher fails: count “five, four, three, two, one…” and then sit down and yawn. Wait. They will scream the words at you — let them fix you twice before you finally launch.

3 min Song · “Blast Off!” — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. Sing it twice.

3 min Game · Rocket launch

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everyone finds a space and crouches down tiny on the floor: knees in, head down, hands over your head like a nose cone. You are all rockets on the launch pad.

“Four! Three! Two! One!” (everyone shrinks a little smaller on every number)

Four launches. Make the countdown slower and quieter each round so the jump gets louder. Last round, a big kid is the countdown caller.

Littles will jump on the wrong number for two rounds and then get it — don't fix them, the countdown fixes itself. Bigs can count backwards on their fingers while they crouch.

1 min Close

All crouched down small, whisper → normal → shout, jumping on the last one:

Got 3 spare minutes? Roaring Rockets (Tony Mitton & Ant Parker) — don't read it, do it. Every page gets a countdown and a jump.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. This time the box is heavy — stagger under it.

Pull out the helmet. Put it on backwards. Walk into something gently. Take it off, look at it, put it on the right way round.

Everyone waves back in slow motion. “Astronaut!”

4 min Teach · I am an astronaut

Helmet on. Say it, then pass the helmet round the circle — every child who wears it says the line:

Littles say the one word with the helmet on: “Astronaut!” Bigs say the frame: “I am an astronaut.”

Then the big idea, told in ten seconds: China sends astronauts up too — our 航天员 live and work in the space station, way above Beijing, and they wave down at us. Point at the ceiling. Everyone waves up.

Teacher fails: try to put the boots on your hands. Look pleased with yourself. Wait for the shouting, then let a big kid come and show you where boots go.

3 min Song · “Blast Off!” — chorus + Tuesday verse

Sing Monday's verse first if they shout for it — repetition is the whole point.

3 min Game · Dress the astronaut

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” One child stands in the middle. The class dresses them, in the real order, calling each piece out loud:

Then the finished astronaut takes one enormous slow-motion step and everybody cheers.

Three or four children get a turn. Bigs call the order themselves; littles hand over the next piece.

Slow is the whole game. Buttons, zips and pulling on a boot are Montessori practical-life dressing work hiding inside a space game — this is why Tray 2 goes on the shelf today.

1 min Close

Everyone standing, helmets on (mimed), whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Mousetronaut (Mark Kelly) — a very small mouse does the job nobody else can. Show the pictures, do the floating.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Open the box like it might be hot. Lift the foil rock out with two hands and pass it round the circle — every child holds it for two seconds.

Let them guess. Then: “A rocket went up, picked it up, and came down again.”

“Up!” (arms high)  “Down!” (crouch)

4 min Teach · up and down

The two words are the whole lesson. Nothing else. Your hand is the rocket:

Littles do the body and the one word. Bigs get the frame: “My rocket goes up.” “My rocket comes down.”

Now the story, short and true: 嫦娥 Chang'e is the lady who flies up to the moon in the old Chinese story — and China named its real moon rockets after her. Chang'e went up to the moon, scooped up moon rocks, and brought them down to Beijing. Hold up the foil rock again. Everyone: “Up… and down!”

Teacher fails: shout “UP!” and crouch right down. Freeze. Look around innocently. They will haul you upright.

3 min Song · “Blast Off!” — chorus + Wednesday verse

This verse is today's teaching block set to music — sing it slowly the first time so the bodies match the words.

3 min Game · Moon walk

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” On the moon everything is light and floaty — so we walk in slow motion, big bouncy steps, arms drifting.

Walk one lap of the carpet together. Then freeze the game with a word: shout “Up!” and everyone bounces as high as they can; shout “Down!” and everyone melts to the floor. Alternate, faster, six or seven times.

Finish by “collecting moon rocks”: each child picks up one imaginary rock, holds it up, and says “I have a moon rock!” Littles just say “Rock!”

Slow motion is enormously calming for a class that has been jumping since Monday. Keep your own voice slow — they copy the tempo, not the instruction.

1 min Close

Arms up on the first, crouch on the second, jump on the last — whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (Eric Carle) — the fold-out ladder page gets a gasp every single time.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Rattle it — this one sounds nearly empty.

Push it firmly into the pot of sand. Everybody claps.

Then hold up the red flag: “Chang'e planted THIS one on the moon. It's still up there.” “Flag!”

4 min Teach · we went there

Three pictures, three sentences, told with your whole body — up, over, down:

Littles do the four actions and shout “Flag!” Bigs tell it back to you in order: “The rocket goes up. I plant the flag. I come down.”

Teacher fails: plant the flag on your own head. Wait. Then let two children come and plant it properly in the sand.

3 min Song · “Blast Off!” — chorus + Thursday verse

Four verses now. Ask which one they want first — choosing it is what makes them own it.

3 min Game · The path to the moon

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Lay a path across the room: step over the cushion, crawl under the chair, three bouncy moon steps, then the sand pot at the end. One child at a time, flag in hand, while the class counts them down:

At the pot the traveller plants the flag and shouts their line; the class cheers and the flag comes back for the next astronaut.

Every child goes once, so keep the path to four obstacles. The countdown gives the waiting children a job — nobody queues in silence.

1 min Close

Flag held high in one hand, whisper → normal → shout, planting it on the last one:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Darkest Dark (Chris Hadfield) — a boy who is afraid of the dark watches a moon landing. Show the last three pages.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant, one last time — and today the box is full. Pull each thing out and hold it up; don't name it, they do.

“Rocket!”  Helmet → “Astronaut!”  Foil stone → “Moon rock!”  Flag → “Flag!”

Line all four up in front of you. That's the whole week sitting on the carpet.

4 min Teach · the countdown review

Hand out the five number cards to five children. They stand in a line, holding 5 4 3 2 1. Point at each card; the whole class shouts the number and everybody crouches one notch lower.

Run it twice, then swap the cards to five new children and run it twice more. Bigs put the cards back in order themselves; littles just hold a number and jump.

Quick-fire finish, one prop at a time: “Rocket!” · “Astronaut!” · “Up!” · “Down!” · “Blast off!” Bigs answer in a whole sentence — “I am an astronaut.”

Teacher fails: hold the cards up as 1 2 3 4 5 and start counting. They will re-order you, loudly. That correction is the assessment — you can hear exactly who has the countdown.

3 min Song · “Blast Off!” — the whole song, top to bottom

They have never “learned” this song and they know all five verses. Sing it for the other class, or record it on your phone for the parents — that recording is the best Friday message you will send all term.

3 min Game · Countdown relay

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Two teams, sitting in lines. At the far end, five paper rockets (or the number cards) face-down on a chair.

Each child runs up, brings back one rocket, and the team lays them out counting backwards — 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. When a team has all five in order they crouch, count together and launch:

Nobody wins. Both teams jump; both teams cheer. Run it a second time with the teams mixed up.

Pair a little with a big for the run — the big carries the counting, the little carries the rocket. This is exactly Tray 1 on the shelf, played with feet instead of fingers.

1 min Close

Whole class crouched on the carpet, hands over heads like nose cones, whisper → normal → shout:

Then: the rocket-window sheets and crayons come out (page 16). Each child draws themselves in the window; you scribe their line, “My rocket goes ___”, and staple the sheets into a little space book that goes home with their award (page 17).

The three chords

Tempo: start the countdown line slow and quiet, then hit the chorus at full marching pace — the song has a launch built into it. Chant it without the uke first; add chords once they know the words.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. On “BLAST OFF!” everyone jumps — that jump is why they will sing this in the car on Saturday.

One verse a day — verses use only C and G7

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — Friday's finale is the whole thing top to bottom, and it doubles as your review of the entire week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. That's the entire song — the same three shapes as the other May weeks, so if you played “Round and Round” you can already play this one. C is one finger, and the verses are just C and G7.