Moon Rocks, Making Craters and Oreo Moon Phases

Today we focused on the moon. The morning started off with some fun dramatic play because last night, after Lilly went to bed, I taped a giant moon to the wall and made "moon rocks" to hide all over the house. When she woke up I told her that her space ship had landed on the moon and she needed to collect moon rock samples. So, she eagerly donned her space helmet and jet pack, grabbed her collection bag and went exploring. Moon rocks were easy to make and the giant moon was a free printable!
DIY Moon Rocks
Materials:
- aluminum foil
- easter eggs
- candy/toys for inside the "rocks"

Directions:
1. Put the treat in the egg.
2. Cover the egg with aluminum foil.
3. Hide them!

After the dramatic play fun we did a little math, reading and writing using some great free worksheets and a free beginning reader. 

Space Math Worksheet

Writing Practice Worksheets & Astronaut Reader 

Then we watched two great videos. One from story bots about the moon and its phases and another from Bill Nye about the moon. did a moon activity using oreos and a free worksheet. We watched the video and then talked about what it meant. Then we discussed the different phases of the moon and why it changed. Then she got to eat the cookies! To make the moon phases all you need are oreos and a knife. Take the top off of the oreo and scrape off icing to create the moon that you need for each phase. Each time she chose one to eat I made sure she knew what it was called.

While she ate her cookies we watched another video about how the moon got its craters and then did a quick demonstration activity using kinetic sand and a ball. You could perform the same activity using  flour and any round, hard object. I chose the kinetic sand because it was already in a container so the mess would be non-existent.

Then we talked about what the moon does in regards to the earth including how the tides work and watched a video about the tides. Then we wrote down all that we learned about the moon on our giant moon printout. 

We ended the day with an astronaut on the moon sandwich. It looks a little less than great because I couldn't find my gingerbread man cookie cutter and had to free hand it with a knife but it works. 

See you tomorrow when we end space week with a focus on the sun!