Does your child ever ask you questions about space?  This is a great way to introduce the relationship between the sun, Earth, and moon.  It’s a fun hands-on way to show how the Earth orbits the sun, and how the moon orbits the Earth.

You will need:

  • Yellow construction paper (for the sun)
  • Blue construction paper (for the Earth)
  • White paper (for the moon and connectors)
  • 3 small brads
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Template from Enchanted Learning

Alternatively, if you don’t have colored construction paper, you could use white paper or even paper plates, and use crayons to color it in.  If you have a color printer, you can also use the colored template.

Materials for Sun-Earth-Moon model

Directions:

Cut out the templates and trace them onto the colored paper. The large circle represents the sun, the middle sized circle represents the Earth, and the smallest circle represents the moon.  We used white paper for the moon and colored it in gray.

Then cut out two strips of paper; these will be the connectors.  One should be about 5 inches, and the other about 8.5 inches inches long — they both should be about 1 inch thick. Place the brads in the proper places as per the directions from Enchanted Learning.  Your model should look something like this:

Now you can have fun making the Earth orbit the sun, and the moon orbit the Earth.

Sun-Earth-Moon Model

(I only had two brads, so I just glued the moon on instead of using a 3rd brad.)

Here’s a question for you and your little one though!  Does the moon rotate?  Check whether your answer is correct or not here.

Kidsastronomy.com has some great information on astronomy and our solar system.  We especially like the video on why our planet has seasons.  Science Kids a has fun interactive online game that puts the sun-Earth-moon relationship into action.

I’ve always had a fascination with space and our solar system since I was a young girl.  It’s fun to continue to explore and learn more about it with my own children!

Hope you enjoyed this post and found the resources helpful!

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