Moon activities

We are continuing our space unit and last week we studied the Earth and our moon. As my daughter pointed out we already know quite a bit about Earth so we concentrated our studies on the moon.

I found some interesting art projects to do. First I tried to get the kids to keep a record of the moon phrases. I thought it would be a great idea to go outside every night and look for the moon and try to identify the phrase the moon was in. This didn't work because in the winter time in the UK, the night sky is cloudy. So for the past 2 weeks we tried to record the moon phrase without much luck:(. So I needed to come up with a different plan to help the children identify and learn the moon phrases so I found this activity in the MOON lap book of Hands of a child and it work much better. I would still like to record a month of moon phrases but this may have to wait till spring or summer.

First I cut out 5 circles for each child (I used sturdy paper plates) and then let the kids paint each circle a different phrase of the moon. Little Man wanted his moon to be yellow while Princess wanted hers to be white.



Next the children punched a hole at the top of each moon








Then we tied string to the moon








and attached them to a coat hanger. We labeled each moon phrase on the back.

I think I need to look for a longer stick or something to help spread out the hanging moons but this will work for now:). I am pleased to report the kids do know the different moon phrases after this activity and couldn't wait to show Daddy :)





Next up we have been learning about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and the first moon walk. I found a diorama of the moon here. This was pretty easy and since it was our first time trying a diorama it was great. I think next time the kids and I want to try to be a bit more creative with it and make more of the diorama pieces ourselves, maybe with clay. However this was a good first effort and it required teamwork as I only had one box and they had to work together to create it.

First we created the background. My daughter pointed out you can't see all the planets from the moon so the back ground was incorrect:).







Next they positioned all the pieces in the box. This took some effort as each had their own specific ideas where things should go. I am thinking we need to do more team work activities in the future.





Our finished diorama. Not bad for a first effort and my kids enjoyed it that they want to do another which I consider a success:).







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