Moon theme activities by Jean Warren

THE MOON

MOON ART

MOON CRATERS
You will need some play dough for this activity.

	Give your child some play dough.
	Have him flatten the play dough with his hands or let him use a rolling pin.
	Next, give him the cap off of a large marking pen.
	Have him push the closed end of the top down into the dough to create moon craters.

MOON SCAPES
You will need a cardboard square, a variety of dried beans or small rocks, some glue and some aluminum foil for this activity.

	Give your child a cardboard square, some glue.
	Set out the rocks or dried beans and have her glue them onto the cardboard.
	When she is done, wrap a piece of aluminum foil across the top of the cardboard and have her gently press the foil down around the beans and rocks to create moon scapes.

MOON MUD
You will need water and cornstarch and a small dishpan for this activity.

	Mix equal parts of water and cornstarch in a bowl.
	Add food coloring, if desired.
	Then, place the mixture in the bottom of a small dishpan.
	Let your child play with the mixture.
	Have him squeeze and interact with the “mud” noticing it’s unusual texture.

MOON GAMES

THE ROCKET SHIP AND THE MOON
Here is a fun felt board game that can reinforce “spacial positions” for your child, such as the terms; on, below, in, behind, above, etc.

	Cut out of felt a large white or yellow moon shape and a black or white rocket ship shape.
	Place the moon shape on the felt board and then place the rocket shape on the felt board.
	Have your child tell you the location of the rocket ship in relationship to the moon.
	Place the rocket ship below the moon, beside the moon, above the moon, on the moon, and you might even want to hide it “behind” the moon. Variation: Let your child move the rocket ship on the felt board, while you tell her the location of the ship after each move.

MOON ROCK SORTER
You will need some rocks and a shoe box for this game.

	Look for some rocks, approximately 1”, and 2”.
	Using a utility knife, cut two circles in the top of the shoe box lid, one 1”, one 2”.
	Set out a number of rocks.
	Have your child place the rocks in the box by choosing a hole that the rocks will fit into.
	Store the rocks inside the box, when not in use.

MOON DRAMATIC PLAY PROPS

	Moon Boots – attach sponges to your child’s feet with large rubber bands.
	Space Helmets – cut face holes in large grocery sacks or ice cream tubs.
	Air hose – use an old garden hose or section of clothes dryer hose.
	Air Tanks – Tape together two large bleach bottles, then ties for strapping on.
	Space Ships or Landing Modules – large empty boxes.
ADDITIONAL PROPS – Flashlights, clipboards and crayons.

MOON ENVIRONMENT

	Create a moon landscape for your children.
	Place pillows all over the floor.
	Then cover the floor with white or yellow sheets.
	Encourage your children to walk across the moon surface, wearing their moon boots.
	You may also want to play some eerie music.

MOVEMENT FUN
This activity is for a group of young children. You will need a long rope.

	Hold the end of a long piece of hose or rope.
	Have one child hold onto the other end and pretend to explore space while you recite the poem below.
	When you finish the first verse, have a second child join the first, by grabbing onto the rope.
	Continue with additional verses until all of the children are holding onto the rope, (the pretend support hose).
One little astronaut floating out from base, Hooked to a hose, exploring space. She/he thought it was so much fun, She/he called another astronaut to join the fun. Two little astronauts floating out from base, Hooked to a hose, exploring space. They thought that it was so much fun, They called another astronaut to join the fun. Adapted Traditional

MOON LANGUAGE

SKY OBJECTS

	Have your child help you think of other things in the sky besides the moon.
	Write the objects down on a list.
	Your children might come up with such things as; planes, rockets, stars, comets.

MAN IN THE MOON – WHAT DO YOU SEE? RHYME
Recite the following rhyme to your child.
            Man in the Moon, up so high,
            What do you see, flying by.
            I see rockets flying by.
            I see rockets in the sky.
Then repeat the first two lines and let your child pretend to be the Man in the Moon and answer back the last two lines with something else that he sees.

HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE
Teach your child the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle.
            Hey, diddle, diddle
            The cat and the fiddle,
            The cow jumped over the moon.
            The little dog laughed to see such fun
            And the cow ran away with the spoon.
                                                            Traditional

SPACE PHONE
Here is a fun activity to do with your child that can help her learn to follow directions as well as to communicate with others over a phone.

	Let your child hold one end of a garden or dryer hose up to her ear.
	On the other end of the hose, give instructions for your child to perform simple tasks, such as; pick up a rock, hop on one foot or fix something on the space ship.
	Reverse the activity and have your child tell you different things to do.

MOON BOOKS

	Read the book “Good Night Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown to your child.
	Check your local library for other children’s books about the moon.

MOON SCIENCE

PHASES OF THE MOON
When we look into the sky the moon does not always look the same.

	Explain to your child that the moon is always the same shape, round.
	However, the moon does not have light of its own and we can only see the moon by the light of the sun.
	Some times the light from the sun cannot reach the whole moon and we can only see part of it.
	We call these different shapes that the light of the sun on the moon creates – The Phases of the Moon.
	Some times the moon looks like a circle, some times it looks like half a circle and most of the time it looks like a funny section of a circle.
	Every month, we are able to see at least one full moon.
	When we are able to see two full moon’s, we call the second moon a “Blue Moon”.

THE SEASONS OF THE MOON
You may want to read the story poem “Seasons of the Moon” to your children found at the Story Station.

ROTATIONS OF THE MOON
Our moon rotates around our earth, once each day.

	Stand in the middle of the room.
	Let your child pretend to be the moon and have him run or walk all the way around you.

MOON ROCK EXPERIMENTS
When the astronauts went to the moon, they brought back rocks. Set out some rocks and let your children pretend that they are rocks from the moon. Here are some experiments they can do with the rocks.

	Weighing rocks – use a bathroom scale to weight the rocks.
	Measuring rocks – use a ruler to measure the width of each rock.

MOON SNACKS

CHEESE ROBOTS

	Cut cheese into different sized squares and rectangles.
	Set out the cheese and some pretzel sticks.
	Have your child make cheese robots using the cheese chunks and pretzels.

MOON ROCKS

	Set out some grated cheese and some smashed Triskets.
	Let your child roll some of each ingredient into a ball to make moon rocks.

BANANA/PINEAPPLE ROCKETS

	Place a pineapple ring on a plate.
	Then cut and peal a banana and cut it in half, horizontally.
	Place half of the banana standing up in the center of the ring to create a rocket ship.

SPACE DRINK

	Give your child a dry drink pack (individual portion).
	Have him pour the drink mix into a glass and then add water and mix for a space drink.

MOON MUSIC

I’M A LITTLE ASTRONAUT
Tune: “I’m A Little Teapot”

I’m a little astronaut
Flying to the moon.
My rocket is ready,
We blast off soon.

I climb aboard
And close the hatch.
5-4-3-2-1, off we blast!
Jean Warren

ADDITIONAL SONGS – Can be found at the Music Station under Moon Songs & Rhymes.

	Back to Main Menu	Theme Station Menu
	Preschool Express © 1998-2024 Van Warren Publications www.preschoolexpress.com DMCA Notice Copyright Policy - All rights reserved. Pages may be downloaded for personal use only. No part of this website may be distributed, reproduced or transmitted in any form to others without written permission from Van Warren Publications. The exception being teachers who freely share materials with parents or students. The following copyright notice must appear on all shared materials: © Van Warren Publications www.preschoolexpress.com