"Blast Off To Space"- Sun and Moon

We started our study of the sun and moon from Mother Goose Time's "Blast Off To Space" at circle time. I showed the kids the Hands-On Letter:S. I asked them what letter it was. Mason identified it for us and the other two repeated after him. 

We then recited the rhyme: 

The planets spin around the Sun,

Around the Sun, around the Sun.

The planets spin aroudn the Sun,

In our solar system.

Our first activity for the day was S is for Sun. I asked the kids if they think the sun moves. Mason thought that it did. I then showed them how to spin a ball. I explained to them that the sun rotates like the Earth does but it takes 25 days for the sun to make one whole rotation. 

I then showed them the Letter Set:S and we talked about what was pictured that begins with the letter S. 

Our next activity was Sunspots. We talked about what color the Sun is. They then choose some crayons to color their My Little Journal.

I explained to them the colors of the Sun depend on how hot it is. The cooler areas appear orange and are called sunspots. I then helped each of them write their names on the cover. They then worked on the other pages of their journal. 

We then moved into day three about the moon. We started with the activity Moon Rocks. We talked about if we were able go to the Moon what would we bring back. We talked about how their are rocks on the moon and we could bring those back to share. I then told them we could make our own moon rocks. 

 They each mixed their own dough. Then we put it on a cookie sheet.

 They then decorated their own moon rock bag and glued on their label. 

While they were waiting for their moon rocks to cook we sat down for a snack. We made our own version of the Moon Snack. We talked about how their are craters on the moon. I know my kids probably would not like rice cakes so we made our moon snack on a tortilla.

 I put a little peanut butter on each of the tortillas and they spread it out. I then sliced a banana and they put them on as craters.

It was a fun different snack.

Our next activity was called Moon Grab. We talked about how Earth has one moon but some planted have many moons. I set up a ramp for them and put the 7 counting card at the bottom. They rolled the pieces of the balancing moon game down the ramp. They tried to land the pieces on the counting card.

Some of the pieces rolled really far but they had fun placing the pieces on the card.

Our last activity for the day was Balancing Moon. We talked about that the Earth is much bigger than the moon. We then plated the Balancing Moon Game by rolling the die and put the matching piece on the Moon. We tried to get all the pieces on without it tipping or the pieces falling off. 

Mason really enjoyed this game and even wanted to play it with daddy when he got home.