Learning About The Moon: Day 2 (Easy Preschool At Home)
After a day spent focusing on the sun, learning about the moon was the logical next choice. My 4 year old was pretty excited to tackle this topic. We spent our day reading, drawing, and SNACKING our way through our lessons! Keep reading for all the easy – and delicious – ideas!
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LEARNING ABOUT THE SUN, MOON, DAY, + NIGHT: WEEK 3 dAY 2
Learning About The Moon: Day 2 Ideas
Letter of the day:
M is for moon. I created a simple free printable ‘M is for Moon’ page on Twisty Noodle. My son used a black crayon to color in the M, representing the night sky. Then he added some foam moon stickers in the sky.
Word of the day:
Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘moon’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)
Book of the day:
The Moon’s Time To Shine. By Gregg and Evan Spiridellis.
Journal prompt of the day:
If I went to the moon… (I switched up our journal format a bit for some variety, and used this printable prompt instead!)
Activities and play we enjoyed:
We spent a little time singing a moon song together, since my kiddo always loves learning with music.
My kid BEGGED me to take this photo EXACTLY like this. He’s a kook.
I printed a page for moon-themed cutting practice. Ultimately, I had my son trace them instead of cut. The shapes of the dashed lines were a bit too complex for him to master with scissors, but they provided some great writing practice.
The activity my son was most excited about today was the Oreo phases of the moon lesson. I printed 2 copies of this page. Using a black crayon, I colored the circles on one of the pages to match each phase of the moon. With a knife, I opened the sandwich cookies and scraped away cream to represent each phase of the moon as well. Then I set both pages as well as the plate of open cookies in front of my kiddo. We spoke about the different phases of the moon represented in the pictures, and then he found the correct cookie to place on his blank page. Then, of course, he got to indulge in eating some ‘moons’ and couldn’t have been happier! (Bonus: baby brother LOVED this lesson too, haha!)
YOU MAY NEED THESE FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE MOON…
colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / oreo cookies / craft foam or stickers
But PLEASE Remember…
This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.
Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…
- We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
- I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
- Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
- Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
- I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!
