I love watching Montessori in action, and my grandkids give me so much inspiration! Following the lead of my grandson, almost 3 years old during the Mars Perseverance rover landing, we had a fun mini unit with a LEGO Mars rover and space exploration materials.
The February 18, 2021, landing of the Mars Perseverance rover has captured the interest of children and adults around the world. It was a perfect time for me to put together a few space exploration materials. My daughter and son-in-law had purchased a LEGO Mars rover previously, so they loaned it for the making of this adorable video! I printed out some of the fabulous solar system printables from Every Star Is Different and got out one of our favorite solar system books for some information about Mars.
Building a LEGO Mars Rover Video – Caleb at Almost 3 Years Old with His Mom, Chrissy
Caleb has such a love of LEGO and vehicles, so this was a perfect activity for him.
About the video:
Montessori at home can look very different from a Montessori classroom! You’ll notice that I don’t have a classroom in my home. Some homeschoolers, love having a separate classroom. I love having our Montessori shelves and materials in my combined living room/dining room. I just find it very comfortable, and my grandkids can easily access Montessori activities and open-ended Montessori-friendly toys whenever they wish.
Also, Montessori at home is individualized for your unique home and child. You don’t need traditional shelf materials and activities that can be achieved in other ways. While you might want some practical life activities on your shelves, for example, the majority of practical life skills can be accomplished through laundry, cooking, and other daily activities. Even toys such as LEGO can help your child develop order, concentration, coordination, and independence. Building the Mars rover took 1¾ hours, which took a lot of concentration on Caleb’s part! And the development of order and fine-motor skills are naturally part of building an intricate LEGO model. Caleb develops independence (and creativity) with the many unique LEGO creations he builds, too!
I love the way Montessori education allows for a child’s natural movement. It’s fun to see just how much Caleb moves in the video … all while concentrating on his work!
I love hearing the growth-mindset messages Caleb’s mom and dad give him. You’ll notice in the video that Caleb spontaneously said: “That was difficult. I just keep doing it … and I got better.” Chrissy responded by affirming his growth-mindset message: “That’s right. When you keep on trying, you get better.”
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Resources Used
- LEGO Mars Rover with 202 Pieces (There’s also a LEGO Mars Perseverance Rover with 672 pieces.)
- 4 4¾” Clear Bowls from Montessori Services for sorting LEGO parts
- Montessori-Inspired Solar System Printable Pack from Every Star Is Different
- Montessori-Inspired Space Exploration Printable Pack from Every Star Is Different Note: The space exploration printables aren’t shown in the video. I printed out the updated space exploration printables after the video was filmed.
- We love all the National Geographic Kids books in the Little Kids First Big Book series, and Little Kids First Big Brook of Space book has 6 gorgeous pages about Mars.
Montessori-Inspired Solar System Printable Pack
The Montessori-Inspired Solar System Printable Pack:
- Planets are broken down and sorted by size, order, group, and more
- Includes weather and geological event cards for each planet
- Encourages exploration of the entire solar system including dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets
Montessori-inspired Solar System Printable Pack Table of Contents
- Planet Do-A-Dot Pages
- Planet Nomenclature Cards
- Planet Picture and Description Cards
- Planet Syllable Counting Clip Cards
- Planet First Letter Sound Clip Cards
- Planets in the Solar System Book Activity
- Planets Word Strips
- Solar System and Ordinal Numbers Activity
- Planets By Size Comparison Activity in Color
- Planets By Size Comparison Activity in Black and White
- Planet Layers Fact Sheets
- Planet Weather Picture and Description Cards
- Planet and Moons Match Up Activity
- Planet Moons Nomenclature Cards
- Planet Moons Picture and Description Cards
- Type of Planet Sorting Activity
- Terrestrial Planet Land Features Nomenclature Cards
- Terrestrial Planet Land Features Picture and Description Cards
- Composer Gustav Holst and “The Planets”
- Meteor, Comet and Asteroid Comparison Activity
- My Place in the Universe Activity
- Astronomy Vocabulary Picture and Description Match Up
- Intro to Chemistry Nomenclature Cards
- Intro to Chemistry Picture and Description Cards
- Astronomy Shape Outlines
Read about all the printables in the solar system pack and get ideas of how to use them in this blog post at Every Star Is Different.
February 26, 2021 Update: The Solar System Printable Pack has been updated! You’ll automatically receive the updated pack if you purchased the pack originally from the Every Star Is Different Shop (even if it was through my affiliate link).
Montessori Solar System Materials, Featuring Mars
The Mars printable in this photo is from the Solar System Printable Pack before it was updated. We used these materials to focus on the Mars Perseverance rover landing. The printables are all from the Montessori-Inspired Solar System Printable Pack.
We love all the National Geographic Kids books in the Little Kids First Big Book series, and Little Kids First Big Brook of Space book has 6 gorgeous pages about Mars. The planet figures are from Safari Ltd. We’ve used them so many times! (Note: They’re currently unavailable on Amazon, but you can get the Safari Ltd. planets from Montessori By Mom.
Montessori-Inspired Space Exploration Printable Pack
As of February 26, 2021, the Montessori-Inspired Space Exploration Printable Pack has also been updated and automatically sent to everyone who purchased the complete Astronomy Bundle from the Every Star Is Different shop (even if it was through my affiliate link).
The updated Montessori-Inspired Space Exploration Printable Pack is now available individually and includes the Mars Perseverance Rover!
Space Exploration Printable Pack Table of Contents
- Important People in Space Exploration Nomenclature Cards
- Important People in Space Exploration Picture and Description Cards
- Space Travel Nomenclature Cards
- Space Travel Picture and Description Cards
I hope you have the chance to have some fun space activities, too! 🙂
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
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