Make your own magnetic stars
We have some awesome updates to existing exhibits and some brand new exhibits coming up at winter projects. One of those is to turn our kids area into a space/night theme!
(Celebrate winter with a craft stick snowflake)
A few parts of the renovation are underway behind the scenes, and one is a project that people can make themselves at home --- homemade magnet stars. We were looking for stars for a magnet board so kids can make constellations, but they were either choking hazards or crazy expensive, so we figured we could make our own with help from our awesome volunteers.
If you want to make some for your own constellation magnet board, all you'll need is:
Felt
Embroidery floss and needle
Scissors
Round magnets
A magnet board or piece of cut steel
We printed off a star template on a piece of cardstock and used that to trace stars onto the felt, so that they were all the same. Then cut out the stars.
Match up two stars, thread your embroidery needle and knot the end of the thread. Start by threading the needle through one star only so that the knot ends up in the middle of the sandwiched stars. Continue whip stitching around the edges until you have two edges left. Then put the circular magnet between the two stars and finish stitching so that the magnet ends up in the middle. Knot the end of your thread to finish the star.
Continue making as many stars as you want.
Put up your magnet board --- we have a piece of cut steel with sanded edges so that they aren't sharp. Print off constellations and let your kids re-create those constellations or let their imaginations run wild and create their own named after friends and family members.
opens IMAGE file Big Dipper
That’s cool!