Man on Moon/ space stuff for 3 yr old

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My 3 year old son is fascinated with rockets and space shuttles. I've been reading him the Every Planet Has a Place book from National Geographic (Early reader Level 2). I'm looking for something similar to talk with him about the Apollo missions. We've been watching the 40th anniversary coverage and he is enthralled. Also, any good "space" toys. I've seen the Imaginext space shuttle at Target but I'm waiting for Christmas sales as its a $40 toy and DH would kill me.

What things would you recommend for a space obsessed preschooler?

Thanks,

Christine W
mom to John 11.05, Katie 1.07 and Sarah 5.09

[kristac]

We love the Matchbox space shuttle here and would vote for that over the Imaginext one for sure. Much more realistic. I have seen it at TJ Maxx I think for $25- $30ish? http://www.amazon.com/Matchbox-Mega-Rig-Space-Shuttle/dp/B0014412KI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1248131009&sr=8-1 It's also compatable with other Mega Riggs sets and my 4 year old could play with it for hours on end. My 2 year old loves it as well- more so then the age appropriate Lift Off Rocket I got him.

The only age appropriate Apollo toy I could find is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Republic-84919-Polybag-space/dp/B001708H48/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1248131417&sr=1-1

[fivi2]

My girls liked the book Zoom Zoom Zoom I'm off to the Moon (Yaccarino? I think). It is not non-fiction, and written for young ones (they were around 2.5 when it was a hit), but you might see if your library has it. (It is silly, but cute).

If You Decide to Go to the Moon is another good one, for an older audience. (like pre-k, kinder age).

Stars, Stars, Stars
The Jupiter Stone

I would look for those at your library and see if you think they are worth owning before buying. If you look them up on Amazon, you can follow the "customers who bought this..." links for more ideas.

We have a moon phase light up thing on the wall that is okay. (we use as a night light).

We never bought a rocketship; a friend had one that my girls weren't into when we went to play there.

Our space phase has kind of fizzled for now, but it is a fun stage!

[kayte]

I would suggest a simple, but some what powerful pair of binoculars (12 x 60 or 20x 80) to look at the craters on the moon with a small inexpensive tripod (we got one at Wolf for $15).

http://www.leapingfromthebox.com/art/rlg/exploringspace.html

http://www.etsu.edu/physics/etsuobs/starprty/21200mwc/moontour.html

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=2225

[Gena]

Usborne Books has some wonderful books about the moon and space. One of DS's early favorites was their picture book "On the Moon". It uses a beautiful combination of drawings and actual photographs.

http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=B1306&gid=85136031&emkt=101&title=On+The+Moon&sqlwhere=submit%3Dsearch%26search%3Dmoon


They also have space Dot-to-Dot book, if your son likes that sort of activity:

http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=B1306&gid=85136031&emkt=101&title=Dot+to+Dot+in+Space&sqlwhere=submit%3Dsearch%26search%3Dspace

We recently discovered "Grandpa Takes Me to the Moon" by Timothy Gaffney at our local library and DS loved it. It's about a former astronaut telling his grandson about going to the moon.

http://www.amazon.com/Grandpa-Takes-Moon-Timothy-Gaffney/dp/068813937X

[Ceepa]

Would he like glow-in-the-dark stars and planets for his ceiling? Mobile of the planets?

[KBecks]

We just checked out a cool book from the library:

One Giant Leap
http://www.amazon.com/One-Giant-Leap-Robert-Burleigh/dp/0399238832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248285321&sr=8-1

The only thing I don't like about it is that it has no mention of the 3rd astronaut - (what's his name again?) But the paintings and writing are beautiful!

[kayte]

The only thing I don't like about it is that it has no mention of the 3rd astronaut - (what's his name again?)

Poor Michael Collins, he never gets any credit. He flew Columbia around the dark side of moon --no radio contact--several times while Buzz and Neil got to hop around on the surface. I think that to have been the scariest part of the whole thing--alone, can't see Earth at all and no radio contact!!!!

[KBecks]

Yes! How scary! And the book (which is beautiful) almost makes it seem as if he wasn't there and only the two did the mission. My husband says oh, it's about the landing, which I guess it is, but they cover the whole trip up and back to Earth. I don't want the kids to think there were only 2 astronauts! We'll have to talk about that.

Alek is very interested in space and rockets too. Fun!!!

[jerigirl]

Not sure where you are located and if this is only a local thing but one of our local Borders Bookstores is having a free event this saturday 7/25. "In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, Borders will be hosting a children's space camp complete with games, trivia and prizes. All ages." (This was from a local mom's newsletter so I would call your local store to see if they have anything going on.) Also their website has some coloring/activity pages, photo images and other things.

http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_moon?sc_eid2=bannerspace-72009