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My son has been fascinated with planets and stars recently. While he was fishing with his dad, they were talking about the tides and the moon’s role in how all that works. That prompted me to do a lesson on the phases of the moon. I had a lot of fun putting this lesson together and creating the below printables. I hope you find it useful for your family either now, or in the future!
Printables are listed below, along with some on-line resources that I’m using in my lesson.
Printable: Phases of the Moon 3 Part Cards (.PDF)
Printable: Phases of the Moon Template (.PDF)
Read Aloud Story: Click for YouTube Read Aloud of “Next Time You See The Moon”
Read Aloud Story #2: Moon! Earth’s Best Friend
Informational Video: YouTube Video
Informational Video #2: YouTube Video
Instructional Video #3: YouTube Video
Craft Instructional Video: YouTube
Craft Printable: Earth’s Rotation(.PDF)
Kids can see how the Moon revolves around the Earth and how the Earth rotates on its axis as it revolves around the sun.
Products: Uncle Goose Moon Phase Blocks (Amazon Link)
Products: Uncle Milton Moon In My Room (Amazon Link)
Products: Magnetic Planets Learning Resources (Amazon Link)
Products: Safari Astronaut Manipulatives (Amazon Link)
Products: Safari Solar System Manipulatives (Amazon Link)
Kids can recreate how the Earth rotates on its axis as it revolves around the sun. Using a pie plate, Play-Doh and a Earth manipulative from the above mentioned set (or using a bouncy ball)
Products: Hape Solar System Puzzle (Hape Website Link) What I love about this puzzle is that it is 3 dimensional and the sun lights up! The child can pick up the planets and manipulate them to revolve around the sun.
Products: Earth and Moon Stress Balls (Amazon Link)
Product: Earth, Moon and Mars Marble Set (Amazon Link)
Product: The Magic School Bus Secrets of Space Activity Kit (Amazon Link)
Book Resources: A Child’s Introduction To The Night Sky, The Stars, Planet Earth, Galileo’s Journal, The Children’s Atlas of The Universe, Coloring Book, and What Is The Moon.
I have several of the above mentioned resources. The solar system puzzle has been a favorite for my boys and I have the mentioned books in my home resource library. Galileo’s Journal was written by a parent of a former student of mine and my boys are really enjoying that.
Have fun going through your recycling bin and finding materials to make satellites! You can then have a discussion about how satellites orbit our planet and that we use them for surveillance and gathering information.
