Stars, Planets and Moons

My 6 year old has been very enthusiastically learning about the solar system, but was struggling to understand the difference between stars, planets and moons. To help her understand we tried a fun demonstration in the garden.

First I made simple hats, one was a Sun, one Earth and the other the Moon. The children each wore a different hat. The ‘Sun’ stood in the middle, while the ‘Earth’ walked around it in a circle. The little ‘Moon’ ran around the ‘Earth’ as it circled the ‘Sun’. Everyone though this was hilarious and I think it got the message across, although our Moon was a little mischievous and kept moving out of orbit.

Fun Solar System Facts

Mars has two moons, discovered in 1877

Venus and Mercury have no moons

Jupiter has at least 63 moons!

Io ( one of Jupiter’s Moons ) has over 400 volcanoes.

Natptune’s largest moon is called Triton and is a similar size to Earth’s moon.

Other great solar system ideas

Make a space themed sensory tub like this one.

Find out about the structure of the Earth with this easy play dough model.

Learn about craters in this fun activity using flour and hot chocolate powder,

We love this FIMO solar system from Red Ted Art.

These puffy planets are super cute from I Can Teach My Child.

Stir the wonder has a beautiful foam solar system.

Follow Emma Vanstone’s board Science for kids on Pinterest.