Make a Moon Phase Box

Over a period of 2 to 3 weeks, observe the moon with your child. Ask your child, “Can you find the moon in the sky? What do you notice?” Invite your child to use the Ready Jet Go! Moon Journal to record observations. Ask your child, “What changes do you see in the moon? Why do you think those changes happen?”

Create a moon phase box by first painting the inside of a shoebox black.

Help your child draw three 2-inch squares on the long sides of the box. Then draw a square on each of the short sides of the box. The squares should be ½ inch from the bottom of the box and spaced 1 ¼ inch apart. Make sure the height of all squares are the same as the other openings. Adjust the spacing if necessary, depending on the size of your shoebox.

Carefully cut three sides of every square.

You’ve made windows that can open and close.

Place a white golf ball on top of a bottle cap in the center of the box. Make sure the height of the base of the ball is similar to the bottom of the windows. Close the lid of the shoebox.

Ask your child, “What provides light for the Earth? What lights the moon?” Explain that the sun provides the light for the Earth as well as the reflected light from the moon. In your moon phase box, the light of the sun will be represented by a flashlight. Place a flashlight at one of the shorter end windows.

Have your child look through the different square openings.

Ask your child to describe what they see through each window. What do they notice about the ball and the shadows? As you and your child move from window to window, talk about how what they see inside the box compares to the shapes they’ve seen of the moon in the night sky.

Keep observing the moon each day and night and record what you notice in a moon journal. Continue using the moon phase box to help your child understand that how much of the lighted moon we can see changes over time.