Leading up to last month’s full moon I was explaining to my boys that each month there is a special name for the full moon. January was the Wolf Moon and so with the anticipation of February’s Snow Moon last weekend we conducted a little moon mini-study! Through books, science experiments, sensory play, and more we learned so much about the moon!
Moon Rock Treasure Smash: After making some moon rocks I hid some treasure inside a few of them for the boys to discover as they cracked them open!
What you need:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- Gray (or white and black) paint
- Cotton balls
- Foil lined baking sheet
- Coins
What to do:
- Whisk together 1 cup flour and 1 cup water
- Add a couple drops of paint to get desired color
- Drop in cotton balls, cover them in mixture, then place them on foil lined baking sheet (warning: this is messy!)
- Bake at 300° for 45 min
- Insert in some coins by pushing them through the bottom.
- Have your child break them open! We used toy hammers to crack them and then pulled apart with our fingers.
- Collect and count your treasure when you’re done!
Brillo Pad Moon Painting: A simple painting project using a Brillo pad!
What you need:
- 2 pieces of black paper
- Brillo pad
- White Paint
- Scissors
- Paper plate
What to do:
- Cut a large circle in the middle of one of the black pieces of paper and.
- Place it on top of the other black paper.
- Mix together paint to get desired moon color.
- Dip Brillo pad in paint and dab the “moon” circle.
- When the circle is full, pick up the paper to reveal your moon!
- Add stars by lightly tapping the Brillo pad around the moon.
Moon Sand Craters: Ever wonder how craters on the moon are formed? Many of them are a result of asteroids and meteorites colliding with the moon’s surface. To simulate this we made a moon out of homemade moon sand and them dropped rocks from above!
What to do:
- Make your moon sand: Mix 4 cups flour and 1/2 baby oil.
2. Create your moon: If you have a round cake pan that’s not glass it will work perfect! Unfortunately the only round pans I have are glass so I didn’t want to drop rocks on them! Instead, I glued a circle using a strip of cardboard onto a large piece of cardboard that we painted to look like the night sky. Then we simply filled the circle with the moon sand.
2. Gather some rocks and let them fall. When you lift the rocks you will see the “craters!”
Some of our favorite moon and sky books:
Parents are the First Teachers 