Solar System Classroom Lesson Plans and Activities for Young Children

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The mysteries of astronomy are very fascinating to young children. There are many different activities that can teach them about their celestial backyard, the solar system. You may try the following ideas with your students.
Build a model of the solar system
Students learn better by doing than by simply hearing a lecture. You can let them build a model of the solar system. Get different sized Styrofoam balls to represent the different planets. You will not be able to represent the exact sizes next to each other since the ones for the larger planets like Jupiter would be gigantic, but you can at least show that one is relatively larger than the others. First they can decorate the balls so that they look like the planets. For instance, they can paint the Earth ball with blue, green and white paint. You can show them photographs of the planets and let them use art supplies to decorate them.
They can then use these balls to make a model in different ways. One way is to make a hanging mobile. You can glue, tape or otherwise attach string to them and then hang them from a hanger. You can also have them standing up from a base. Take a long piece of Styrofoam and get wooden sticks. Put the sticks in the Styrofoam base. You can then slide the balls down on top of each one.
Make solar system artwork
A simpler project is for the kids to make a piece of artwork representing the solar system. They can use crayons, markers, colored pencils and other art supplies. You can have them be creative and make it three dimensional. For instance, they can use different sized lids of jars to glue down as the planets.
Plan a “visit” to each planet
You can give the children an in-depth idea of what it is like to be on each planet. You can plan a trip to each planet. You can place up decorations around the room. For instance, you can use white cloth to represent the cloud covered planets. You can talk about how much they would weigh on the planets due to increased or decreased gravity. You can talk about how cold or how hot it would be. The kids can draw pictures of what each individual planet is like.
Many kids enjoy learning about astronomy and the solar system. Try the above ideas with your classroom students. Make sure to gear the lessons to the age of the children.