Flight of the Navigator Learning Experiences Part 1

This week we switch gears a little bit and turn to the world of sci fi. Flight of the Navigator was a family favorite when I was a kid and I have super fond memories of watching it with my parents and brothers. I still like to jam whenever I hear I Get Around by The Beach Boys on the radio and it always makes me think of this movie. When I ask others about this movie, many have never heard of it! It was made back in 1986, has all the loveliness that a classic 80s movie has (especially the random musical breaks), and features a very young Sarah Jessica Parker in a minor role. I had SO much fun with this movie that I had to do this in two blog posts. We did SO many activities. So look out for Part 2, which you can also find here.

When watching the movie with my children, I quickly remembered that the movie I watched as a kid was taped on VHS off of T.V. Watching it unedited on Disney+, I couldn’t believe some of the language in it! Especially for a Disney movie! It took me completely by surprise! So I wanted to give you a heads up, in case you’d like to fast forward through that language, or to at least know when it’s coming so you can just so happen to talk loudly or ask your kids a question at that part to distract from the language.

-Shocker number 1. Little brother calls the dog “retarded” at 3:52.

-A NASA scientist uses h-e- double hockey sticks at 25:45.

-Brother Jeff tells David not to take any “sh-t” at 33:30

-My 4 year old told the security guard he needed to say “Oh My Gosh” instead at 47:26 (and she reminded another character of this again at 1:06:52.)

-Dr. Faraday tells them to open the G-dd@mn door at 48:23.

-Dad calls Dr. Faraday a bastard at 1:07:05.

Now that you’ve been forewarned, let’s set up The Flight of The Navigator.

The Hook: What Do You Know About Our Solar System?

My daughter loves space! There’s something so fascinating about the solar system, planets, and possible aliens. We started out by talking about what we knew about space. This is a perfect time to bust out a picture of our solar system (lots of good ones on Google Images). Ask your children what they notice about the different planets. Why do they think Earth is the only one known to have life? Which planet looks the coolest to them? Why? How do astronauts travel to outer space? Here is a fun site where you can calculate how much your child would weigh on each planet because of the difference in gravity.

Now that you’re primed to be thinking about space, enjoy watching The Flight of The Navigator!

Supplies needed for this week’s activities:

-Clay (modeling clay, Model Magic, or Play-doh all work

-Construction paper and coloring materials (markers, crayons, colored pencils)

-Watercolor paints

-Chalk and black paper

-Glue and salt

-Craft materials (construction paper, paper cups, paper plates, craft sticks, toilet paper rolls, felt, pipe cleaners, aluminum foil)—anything you have around the house.

-Pizza box, black construction paper, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, tortillas, cheese

-S’more Ingredients: graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate

Creating Clay Planets

For our first activity I placed modeling clay on the table and invited my children to make their very own planets. I had really wanted Model Magic for this activity (it’s so easy to work with!) but realized I had ordered Crayola Modeling Clay instead. This still got the job done, and it won’t dry out so later they can reuse the clay to make something else. My 4 year old made 2 planets in the course of 10 minutes. She made Mars and a planet that she called Cavria. My 7 year old spent over 45 minutes on hers! She named her planet Rosieana.

Bon Voyage: A Travel Brochure to a New Planet!

Now that my children created their very own planets, I invited them to create a travel brochure explaining why people should come and visit their planet. To do this, I took a thick white piece of paper, folded it into 3 sections, and then folded it into a brochure. If you happen to have old brochures from previous vacations, this would be a great time to pull them out for your children to look at and notice! If not, I also made a sample. Ask your children to get really creative and think about some fun things they might be able to do on this imaginary planet. Would would people eat? What would they do for fun? What kind of animals do they have? If your kids need some inspiration, this is a great time to bust out some Dr. Seuss Books! Dr. Seuss is the king of made-up creatures! I highly recommend One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish or Oh The Thinks You Can Think. They both have tons of fun, silly creatures with made up names.

Note: If you have younger children and a brochure is too hard for them, have them make a poster instead! You can grab a piece of poster board, card stock, or even plain old construction paper. Children can draw a picture of their planet and the different things the planet has to offer. If your child is too young to write, you can have him or her draw the picture and you can provide the labels.

Here is my older one’s travel brochure to Rosieana:

And here’s my little one’s brochure to Cavria. She told me there was a sea to swim in, they had lots of flowers, and the girl on the left is eating fish.

Cooking Using the Sun As a Heat Source

Here is a great opportunity for your children to help you cook lunch this week! First you need a pizza box. No pizza box? What a great excuse to order pizza this week! I have to admit that this activity is not one of my own invention. My 4 year old’s wonderful preschool teacher, Ms. Erica, told us about this activity while we were home Sheltering in Place back in April. Such a great activity!

When you get your pizza box, you will need to cut a flap into the top of the pizza box. Cut only 3 sides so that the top part is still attached to the pizza box, creating a flap. You will then cover the newly created flap with aluminum foil. Flip the flap up so it is away from the rest of the pizza box and cover the square hole in the top of the box with plastic wrap. Tape the plastic wrap in place. Line the bottom of the pizza box with black construction paper.

Next take some tortillas and put cheese in them. Take your pizza box outside and face the opening towards the sun. Prop the flap part that is covered with aluminum foil up with 2 chopsticks or pencils. The sun with reflect off of the aluminum foil, shine through the plastic wrap, and melt the cheese. Then, voila! You have cheese quesadillas for lunch.

I have to tell you that we tried an encore of this experience with s’mores. It didn’t work quite as well. The chocolate got nice and melty, but the marshmallows got a little dry instead of melting down. So we noticed how the chocolate had started to melt and then finished them off with a few seconds in the microwave to help the marshmallows along.

For more exciting Flight of the Navigator Learning Experiences, please click here for Part 2!

~Nicole