Easy Planet Activities for Your Homeschool Space Unit

At the beginning of July, another teacher and I hosted a space-themed camp and it was a total blast! Day 2 was all about planets! We had a lot of fun exploring the planets, learning some facts about them, and creating our own! We had kids 5-10 years old and they all found joy in the activities. The older kids spent more time perfecting their projects and some of them worked with the younger students when they needed some extra help. I am excited to share a few of the activities with you today. Check out the MOON activities we did HERE.

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Many of the activities we did during camp were not as student-led as they would be if they were offered as a follow-up in a Montessori classroom or during homeschool lessons. We planned them to be easy for a group of kids to do in a short amount of time. If you’re planning on doing these activities, you can cater them to work for your children. but they were still a lot of fun for the kids. The beginning of the year is the PERFECT time to study space when you’re following a Montessori scope and sequence because it will follow the First Great Lesson: The Coming of the Universe. I’ll do a post on that soon!

All About Planets

On day two we talked about the planets and dwarf planets. The older children asked questions about the planets and did research to find out what makes a planet a planet. We were able to use this fantastic solar system mat made by Waseca Biomes. If you’ve never placed an order with Waseca Biomes, here’s a $15 coupon. You’re going to LOVE these materials for your classroom or homeschool. I apologize in advance for getting you hooked on them! We also used the mat to review the planets’ names & order from the sun throughout the week.

This picture is of the entire solar system mat and everything that it includes. We only used a small portion of the set for camp since I only did a short introduction to the material.

Make a Planet Mobile

During our planet study, the kids made planet mobiles that I got the template from Life Skills Creation’s TPT Store HERE. For time’s sake, we chose to print the template for camp. If I were to offer this type of project during a classroom/homeschool lesson, I might suggest the child make his/her own mobile instead of printing & coloring one. This would allow for more creativity and would give them the opportunity to research what each planet looked like so they could draw and color it accurately. Then, the circles could still be glued together to make a mobile.

I was tickled when I noticed a student in my Lower Elementary class colored the Earth with the proper continent colors that we know in the Montessori classroom! Once the students get used to specific colors used for things in the classroom, it is hard to do anything else! It helps students remember the continents and distinguish between them.

Next, the students created their own planets! We did this project using sugar cookies, icing, and sprinkles! Then, the students named their planet and told us all a little bit about it. This project was mostly silly during camp but it has the potential to be a really fun and in-depth project during a classroom or homeschool lesson. Older students could research types of planets and write a lot of details. They could include if it is a rocky or gas planet, what elements it is made up of, how big it is, what the temperature is, etc.

My daughter and I did this project at home because she was sick during camp day 2. It was fun because I got to make my own planet with her too! We spent the next few days eating way too many cookies but it was well worth it.

We prepped this project by making all the sugar cookies ahead of time. It was a great practical life activity, as any baking would be, and we loved it. Anything involving food is a winner in our house.

A Few Extras

We found a few planet songs to play during the day too and the kids really enjoyed them. We asked the older children how they remembered the order of the planets. Some of them mentioned a song. The teachers remembered learning the planet name acronym! The acronym is: My Very Education Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas, which of course is outdated now. You could use My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles now to kick Pluto out of the club. This is really helpful in remembering the order of the planets.

For camp, we had a general theme for each day. On day 1 we talked about the moon and how the Earth & moon both orbit around the sun. Don’t forget to check out the other posts in this series about the Moon + Stars & Galaxy Activities. We also started reading The Magic Tree House book where Jack and Annie visited the moon! All the kids loved it and I even learned a few facts about the moon.