While watching the Planets Song (Animated Music Video), students learn about the order of planets in our solar system as well as cool facts about each planet.
While listening to the Planets Song (MP3), students learn about the order of planets in our solar system as well as cool facts about each planet.
In this solar system sequencing planets activity, kindergarten to 5th grade students put the eight planets in order from the Sun and match their names. Answer key included.
Space flash cards with bright pictures of the sun, moon, planets and more help kindergarten to 4th grade students learn space words and facts. An answer key is included.
This writing about space worksheet helps 1st grade students plan a space story with three simple questions, then write it on six wide lines. Every story is the child's own.
Blast off with eight planet pals
First graders learn that Earth is one of eight planets that travel around the sun. They find out the sun is a star that gives us light and warmth, and they notice patterns in the sky, like the sun rising in the morning and the moon showing up at night. Kids love learning a fun fact for each planet: Jupiter is the biggest, Saturn has rings, Mars looks red. The click is when they realize Earth is moving right now, even though it feels perfectly still!
Little astronomers learn best with songs, pictures and their whole bodies. Here's what works for us.
Play the planets song during morning meeting and hold up a big picture of each planet as it's named. By the end of the week, kids sing along and point on their own. Music makes the order easy.
Why it works: words set to a repeating melody are easier to recall than the same words spoken (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withPlanets Song (Animated Music Video)SongsOpen it →Show one space card at a time and ask "What do you notice?" Kids share one thing they see, like rings, colors or size. Then add one fact. Looking closely first makes the fact stick.
Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withSpace Flash CardsFlash CardsOpen it →One child is the sun in the middle of the rug. Eight friends hold planet cards and slowly walk in circles around them. Everyone sees what "orbit" means in about two minutes.
Why it works: playful practice with a clear goal keeps kids practicing longer, and simple learning games have been shown to build real skills (Ramani and Siegler, 2008).
Try it withSolar System Sequencing Planets ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Space play is always a hit with 6-year-olds. Try these:
ActivitiesMix up the planet cards and work together to put them in order from the sun.
Open Solar System Sequencing Planets Activity →
WorksheetsKids pick a planet to "visit" and write two sentences about what they would see there.
Open Writing about Space Worksheet →
SongsTurn on the planets song and spin like Earth, then "orbit" around the room.
Open Planets Song (MP3) →Teacher favorites right now: Planets Song (Animated Music Video), Planets Song (MP3) and Solar System Sequencing Planets Activity.
They learn about the sun, moon and stars, that Earth is a planet, and patterns like day and night. Many classes also learn the names of the eight planets.
There are eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is now called a dwarf planet.
Use a song, big colorful pictures, and one simple fact per planet. Acting out an orbit with family members is a fun way to show how planets move.
Saturn's rings are made of chunks of ice and rock! Kids also love that Jupiter is so big all the other planets could fit inside it.
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