Astra the Lonely Airplane by Julie Whitney and Michelle Simpson and published by Belle Isle Books is a lovely story about a plane that is looking for a new owner but it has to be the right person for her. The story is fantastic. It keeps you captivated and wanting to find out the outcome. The pictures are beautifully detailed and you fall in love with Astra and become emotionally involved in her story.
Activities
Paper airplane competition
Paper airplane landing competition
Visit near an airport/plane spotting
Pretend to be a plane
Airplane dinner
Fruity planes
Bake some pretzels
Paint/draw Astra
Make Astra
Flying on Astra activity
Role play airport
Outdoor
As Astra is an airplane I thought that we would start with outdoor activities first. You could make a paper airplane and have a competition to see whose could fly the furthest. If you wanted to do something a bit more elaborate then you could use some paper plates and have them as landing zones. The plates furthest away could have the biggest score and the plates closer a smaller score. You could then do a competition to see who can gain the most points in 5 minutes. An activity away from home could be to have a visit near an airport and see the different planes taking off. We used to do this quite a lot as my youngest brother loved planes. You could take a picnic, camera and some paper to either draw the planes on or write the different ones down spotted. A final activity to do outdoors could be to make some wings out of card and then your child/children could pretend to be planes and have their own adventures in the garden. They could pretend to explore different places and then tell you all about them when they fly back home.
Food/Cooking
Food on an airplane is delivered on trays and often comes in little pots. If you can get hold of some trays and little pots then you could do your child/children's dinner in the little pots and pop them on the tray and then they can pretend that they are having dinner on a plane. If you have an older child then they could pretend to be the host and deliver the food to the rest of the family. Another food inspired activity could be to make some fruit planes. If you get at least 3 different fruits, cut them into slices and then have some raisins available then your child/children could make some planes out of their fruit before they eat it. This is a fun activity but is also healthy. You could always switch some of the fruits out for some vegetables and then your child/children can get creative. A final food inspired activity could be to make some pretzels. Pretzels are one of the snacks that Astra has on board so you could use a recipe online (or a cookbook) and make some pretzels to eat for a snack.
Indoor
The first activity could be to paint or draw Astra. This could be in her old hangar with Captain Dan, her new hangar with her new owner or flying up in the sky. Another activity could be to make Astra. You could use toilet roll or kitchen roll innards for the main body (or even an empty drinks bottle) and then lollypop sticks for the wings and then your child/children can decorate her using pens, paint, different coloured paper and other things available in the art and craft box. Another activity could be for you and your child/children to fly in Astra. You can draw a picture of her and then cut your face and your child/children's' face out of a photograph and then stick them on the picture to make it look like you are on the plane. Your child might decide that they want to be the pilot and stick themselves at the front of the plane. A final activity could be to make a role play airport in your house. You could make a check in desk with a pad of paper, pretend passport and a desk. Your child could have some suitcases that they want to take with them and then you could arrange some chairs in pairs to make it look like an airplane. There are lots of different jobs that your child/children could pretend to do. They could do check ins, be a pilot, be a guest or be a hostess.
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