Play “Mindy’s Wheel of Planets”
Help your child learn about the planets in this out-of-the-world activity!
Before You Play
Watch the “Solar System Song” from Ready Jet Go! Then ask your child, “How many planets are there?” “How many planets can you name?” Show him the picture of the solar system with the planets in order. Take a look at the individual pictures of the sun and planets together. Encourage your child to say the names of each along with you.
If your child should mention Pluto, tell him about how Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet travels around, or orbits, the sun just like other planets, but it’s much smaller.
This activity can be played with one child or a group. If more than one child is participating, each should have his own printables and brad (see materials).
Materials
Directions
Give your child a copy of the top and bottom of Mindy’s Wheel of Planets. Have him use crayons or colored pencils to color in the planets on the bottom of the wheel. Encourage your child to color Mindy and her telescope on the top section of the wheel.
Once the top and bottom parts of the wheel are colored, help your child cut out the wheels. He should have two circles of the same size.
While your child is cutting out the top circle, remind him to cut along the dotted lines. Tell him that this will be the viewing window for Mindy to "see the planets" using her telescope. You may need to ask your child if he knows what a telescope is.
Using a pencil or scissors, punch a hole through the center X on the top and bottom of the wheel. Younger children may need help or additional supervision with this task. Make sure the hole is not larger than needed to support a brad.
Place the top and bottom plates together, so that Mindy is on the top plate and can “see” a planet through the cut triangle.
Use a brad to secure the two pieces of paper together.
Show your child how to spin the wheel slowly. This will allow him to see one planet at a time through the triangle opening. Ask him which planet is his favorite and why.
Play the Game
This active game is best played in a group and after children have some base knowledge of the planets through the “Before You Play” section.
Assign each child the Sun or one of the eight planets in our solar system and give that child a picture of the assigned planet to hold. If there are more than nine children in the group, you can place the children in small groups or run the game multiple times and have each child take turns.
As a first challenge, ask the children to line up in order of distance from the Sun. Mercury would stand closest to the Sun, followed by Venus, Earth, etc. Encourage the children to use the facts from each photo to figure out the order!
Next, challenge the children to sort themselves by different characteristics listed below. Sometimes the children will end up in a line and sometimes they will end up in groups.
- Terrain (rocky planets vs gaseous planet groups)
- Time it takes to orbit the sun (shortest to longest)
- Diameter (smallest to largest)
- Number of moons (fewest to most)
- Average surface temperature (coldest to hottest)
Children can look at the pictures of the planets to help sort themselves. If the game is difficult for younger children, it may also help to pair newer readers with children with stronger reading skills.
Math
Science