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Space Unit for Kids

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Looking for some fun Space teaching ideas for kids?   These ideas could be used to make a fun space unit for kids! My kids have really been interested in space lately, so they were pretty excited to learn more about it.

solar system -Space Unit for Kids

Space Unit for Kids

I started the lesson by reading the kids a book called Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeney and illustrated by Annette Cable.  It is a cute book about the solar system and planets.   After the story we put our own planets in order. I put together a printable cut-out solar system.  We spread them out on the floor and figured out the order.

how big is the solar system

Next we talked a little about how big the solar system is and how far apart the planets are.  I did this with a fun activity using a roll of toilet paper.  We rolled out 100 sheets of toilet paper and put the planet cut-outs on the different squares.

This makes a scale model of the solar system scaled down to 100 squares.  They LOVED this!

Just roll out 100 squares of toilet paper (this is less than 1 roll).  Then use my instructions int he printable to see how far apart each planet is from the sun.

My kids wanted to separate the squares, but it is not necessary. It stays together and does not blow away as easily if you keep it all in one pice.

Solar system with toilet paper- space unit for kids

Download my planets & instructions here:

Planets of the Solar System

Here are the measurements if you want to try this out (or grab the instructions & planets in the printable.)

how big is the solar system project with toilet paper- space unit

First you put the sun down.
Then 1 square away is Mercury
Venus is at 1.8 squares from the sun
Earth is at 2.5 squares
Mars is at 3.8 squares
Jupiter is at 13.2 squares
Saturn is at 24.2 squares
Uranus is at 48.6 squares
Neptue is at 76.3 squares
Pluto is at 100 squares

I taught the kids about Copernicus and Galileo and how they figured out that the planets rotate around the sun and not the other way around.

The final thing we did in our space unit for kids was learn a little about constellations.  I have a great book called The Kids Book of the Night Sky by Anne Love and Jane Drake, and illustrated by Heather Collins.  It has mythological stories about where the constellation names and pictures come from.  It also teaches about different constellations and shows the stars at all different seasons of the year. It has some fun learning activities in it as well.

If you are looking for a good kids book about astronomy, I highly recommend this one!  We really like it. I read a few thing to the kids from this book to the kids so they could learn some of the stories.

I found some really cute printable constellation cards from Mrs. Home Economist.  There are six different constellations.  I printed these out and punched out the holes.  Then I gave the kids a sheet of blue or black construction paper.  I had them copy the constellations on their papers with a yellow or white crayon by coloring dots where I punched the holes.

 Then they did a dot-to-dot and connected the constellations.  We put star stickers on the dots.  They kids really enjoyed making their own constellations.  They especially liked learning the stories about the ones they were making.  I heard lots of kids telling their moms about the constellation that they made.

I have a great ipad app called Star Walk that I pulled up to show them the constellations as well.  They were so fascinated by this!  It has beautiful images of the sky.

It turned out to be a really fun activity that I think the kids will remember.  It will also spark their interest and make them want to learn more about the sky!

See more of my space themed activities:

Astronaut Easy Reader Book for Kindergarten

Space STEM: Shooting Star Spinner Toy

Solar System Model in a Jar

Jumbo Crayon Solar System Model

9 Fun Kids Astronomy Activities for Teaching

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17 Comments

    1. Karyn, I loved this activity. While I was student teaching many, many years ago…I taught 6th grade student about different ways that the earth moves creating earth quakes. And I used a three layer peanut butter and jelly sandwich. each slice of bread represented a layer of the earth and the PBJ represented layers of the earth. Then we cur our sandwiches in half and begin to demonstrate the types of earthquakes.

      On a side note…how do I get connected to your blog so that I can receive regular updates?

  1. This is awsome!! I am preparing my next week lesson. Where did you find the templates for the constellations?
    Thanks for sharing your work!!

  2. I love this! I teach pre-K and each Friday we do what we call “Field Work Friday” where we do some sort of hands on fieldwork to really dig in deeper to what we are studying. I am excited to use your toilet paper demonstration with my students for this week’s fieldwork, tomorrow. I think they will love it!

  3. Hi thanks so much for this activity idea. Just a bit confused on the instructions. It says to roll out 100 squares but from the picture it looks as though the indicated number of squares related to each planet is a measurement from one plante to the following planet, not a distance from the sun. This would result in the numbers being added together instead of a total of one hundred
    Venus is at 1.8 squares from the sun
    Earth is at 2.5 squares
    Mars is at 3.8 squares
    Jupiter is at 13.2 squares
    Saturn is at 24.2 squares
    Uranus is at 48.6 squares
    Neptue is at 76.3 squares
    Pluto is at 100 squares
    Could you be so kind as to orient me. Maybe im just sleep deprived hahaha. It is a great idea

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