Young girl is reading Dr. Seuss' "Hop on Pop"

Story Time - How to Catch a Star

Activity 1: Your Positive Affirmation Star

Have you ever wanted to do something that seemed impossible? What did you do to try and achieve your goal? What strategies did you use to keep believing in yourself even when things weren’t going your way?

An affirmation is anything you think or say about yourself. Positive affirmations help you feel good about yourself and are good things to repeat to remind yourself of all the good things about you. An example of a positive affirmation might be: I am strong, I am kind, I can make a difference. Believing in yourself can make a big difference when you are facing something difficult, and positive affirmations are good thoughts that can help encourage you along the way.

1. Find a flat surface, such as a table, to do this project.
2. Find a thick piece of paper.
3. Cut a circle out of your paper and draw yourself (or glue a photo of yourself) in the center of the circle. Write out all of your positive affirmations and glue them around your circle, like rays of light around a star. You just created a bright star of positivity; hang this somewhere where you can see it often to remind yourself of all the wonderful things that make you you.

Share your thank your affirmation stars with us #TheHAtHome.

Activity 2: Mindful Meteor Drawing

November Meteors (1868) is a lithograph print by E.L. Trouvelot, a self-taught astronomer who created more than 7,000 astronomical illustrations during his lifetime. Trouvelot observed the sky through a telescope at the Harvard College Observatory, the largest telescope in the world, at the time.

Although commonly known as “shooting stars,” meteors are falling space rocks that burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. This print depicts the Leonid meteor shower, which takes place in November.

Stream The Huntington’s Spotify soundtrack, Radiant Beauty, inspired by E. L. Trouvelot’s lithographs of outer space, which are part of the Jay T. Last collection. Take a moment to look closely at Trouvelot’s November Meteors. How many falling space rocks do you see? What color are they? Different space rocks can produce different colors when they enter the atmosphere, depending on what the meteor is made up of.

If a space rock has a lot of magnesium, it might glow blue; if the space rock has a lot of iron in it, it might glow more yellow. How does looking at the night sky make you feel? Experiment with drawing your own meteor shower on a blank piece of paper, while listening to music. Does the sound of the music have an effect on your meteor drawings?

Share your mindful meteor drawings with us at #TheHAtHome.