“Star Light, Star Bright”: A Lesson Plan for Toddlers

Many toddlers don’t know exactly what a star is. Although toddlers do not yet understand enough to realize that stars are made of balls of glowing gas, they can learn what stars look like and other details about them. This toddler lesson plans for “Star Light, Star Bright” will do just that.

With toddlers, listen to the song “Star Light, Star Bright,” sung by Sharon, Lois, and Bram. If you’d like, listen to the rest of the songs on the mp3 with children. The songs are slow lullabies and are especially suited to the time immediately before and after naptime.

Talk to children about what they know about stars. They might mention that stars are in the sky, that they come out at night, that they look like tiny lights, or that they can be a shape as well.

Explain to children that the song “Star Light, Star Bright” is about wishing on a star. Tell them that a wish is something that you really want to happen. Ask students to share their wishes with the group. If they‘d like, have them draw pictures of their wishes.

Hand out shiny star stickers (available at most dollar stores and all teacher supply stores) to children. Show them how to peel the stars off the backing and stick them to a piece of dark-colored construction paper. When they’re finished, this project should look like the night sky.

Cut out large stars from construction paper and hand one to each child. Write the child’s name on the middle of the star, and provide children with art supplies to decorate their stars. Hang them on the wall and talk to students about the fact that when someone is a “star” it means that they did something very good. Throughout the following weeks, when a child does something good, hang up the child’s star in a special place (such as over the teacher’s desk) and tell the rest of the children about the special thing that the child did.

This lesson plan for “Star Light, Star Bright” is a wonderful example of how to bring abstract concepts down to a toddler’s level. After using this lesson plan, you’ll see your students understanding the concept of stars and appreciating their beauty even more.