I See The Moon & The Moon Sees Me!

We’ve been learning a little about the moon and the kids are loving it!  One of our objectives is to observe changes over a period of time, so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for the kids to observe the changes in the appearance of the moon! We made this a class project and the kids are just TOO excited!  Each night, a different kiddo gets to take home the class “Moon Bag”. {I used yellow fabric & stitch witchery for the moon, a fabric marker for the lettering, and glittery puff paint to outline the moon and make the stars :)} Inside the bag is a book about the moon {from the library}, our class moon log, white crayons, white chalk, & hairspray {to seal the chalk}. Each night a different kiddo is responsible for taking home the Moon Bag.  The kiddo who takes it home gets to be our official class Moon Watcher for the night.  They were SO excited about it and can’t wait for their turn!  Using a white crayon or chalk, the kids will draw the moon {the shape they observe}.  I drew the first three nights worth of moons in our notebook so that the kids {& their parents} would have an example.  Since there are plenty of nights that we don’t see the moon in the sky, I told the kids to draw what they observe {stars, clouds, etc.}  When the Moon Bag comes back to school the following day, we look at this website together to see what the moon would have looked like if they would have seen it in the sky.  The first two kids that took home the Moon Bag never saw the moon 🙁  The notebook is filled with black construction paper, a letter to the parents, and a checklist.  We’ll observe the moon for a full month so that we can talk about the changes it goes through in a full cycle.  Then I’ll put the Moon Log in the Investigation Station for the kids to revisit!

If you enjoy this activity, you might be interested in these resources as well. Click on the links to see what teachers are saying about implementing these in their classrooms!

Moon Mania (Math, Science, & Literacy Centers)

Science of Space (Moon, Sun, & Stars)