Outer Space: Day One

There's No Place Like Space!

An introduction to the Solar System and our planets.

Read "There's No Place Like Space"--by Tish Rabe....part of the Cat in the Hat's Learning Library. (You will have to modify and explain that Pluto is no longer a planet, but is now considered a dwarf planet, so there are no longer NINE planets, but EIGHT. There is a mnemonic device for remembering the planets in order which is obsolete, too. You could replace it with one like: My Very Educated Mother Just Saw Uncle Nick.)

Our Solar System: The Sun and Eight Planets

If you still have the sun you made from a previous lesson, use that. If not, use a paper plate painted yellow to represent the sun. Print out these planet cards (excluding Pluto) and glue them onto cardstock. Cut them out and number them, in order, 1-8.


Help children put them in order, count them, name them, and show how the planets surround the sun. You can use one of the songs below:

The Planets Zippidy Doo
(Sung to "Ten Little Indians")

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
Then comes Jupiter, oh my stars
Saturn and Uranus, too.
Then comes Neptune...zippidy doo

The Family Of The Sun (sung to FARMER IN THE DELL)

The family of the sun, the family of the sun, here are eight planets in,
the family of the sun.
Mercury is hot, Mercury is small, Mercury has no atmosphere,
it's just a rocky ball.
Venus has thick clouds, that hide what is below, the air is foul, the ground is hot,
it rotates very slow.
We love the Earth our home, its oceans and its trees, we eat its food,
we breathe its air, so no pollution please.
Mars is very red, it's also dry and cold, some day you might visit Mars,
if you are really bold.
Great Jupiter is big, we've studied it a lot, we found it has lots of moons,
and a big red spot.
Saturn has great rings, we wondered what they were, now we know they're icy rocks, which we saw as a blur.
Uranus is so far, it's cold and greenish blue, we found it rotates sideways,
and it has lots of moons.
Neptune has a spot, a stormy patch of blue, the planet has a lot of clouds,
and rings around it, too.
The family of the sun, the family of the sun, here are eight planets in,
the family of the sun.

Author Unknown

The Planets Revolve Around the Sun
(Sung to: "The Ants Go Marching")
The planets revolve around the sun, hurrah; hurrah
The planets revolve around the sun, hurrah; hurrah
The planets revolve around the sun and spin on their axis every one.
And they all go spinning, around and around and around they go.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, hurrah; hurrah
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, hurrah; hurrah
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are whirling and twirling around the sun
And they all go spinning, around and around and around they go.

Jupiter, Saturn are next in space, hurrah, hurrah
Jupiter, Saturn are next in space, hurrah, hurrah
Jupiter, Saturn are next in space. Uranus and Neptune complete all eight.
And they all go spinning, around and around and around they go.

Orbit the Sun:
Place a round rug or pillow in the middle of the room. Have children practice moving around the "sun" just like the planets do. Sing the above song about the revolving planets as you move in a big circle around the room. You could also talk about how planets rotate (spin) on their axis and have children pratice spinning in place. For older kids, have the rotate AND revolve at the same time!

Popsicle Stick Orbit:

Have your children decorate a washer as a planet and a popsicle stick as the sun. Attach the washer to one side of a piece of yarn and the popsicle stick to the other (helps to cut a notch in the stick). Tell your children to hold the sun (Popsicle stick) and spin the yarn causing the planet to orbit.

Solar System Coloring Pages:
Click HERE for a coloring book.....adjust for younger children.
Click HERE for a planet page.
Clicke HERE for the planets in orbit.