Looking for something more hands-on than a standard phases of the moon worksheet for your next space topic/unit? This phases of the moon foldable craft activity for elementary/primary science is easy to prep, and can be completed with readily available resources.
You’ll want to introduce the lunar cycle to children before beginning this activity. In fact, this idea could help to check children’s understanding as part of an end of topic review. You could also use this as part of your World Space Week celebrations!
The finished foldouts look great into an interactive science notebook!
Before you start, you can see a time-laspe of this activity over on my Instagram. 🙂
You will need:
🌕A sheet of white paper
🌕Pens/pencils (particularly yellow, black and grey)
🌕Scissors
🌕Glue
🌕Ruler
🌕A coin around 2.5cm in diameter
🌕Cup/mug with an 8cm diameter (or a compass)
How to make it
First, create a basic template by drawing eight 3x8cm rectangles on a horizontal sheet of white paper. Add two 1x8cm rectangles on each end. Use a coin to draw a circle at the top of each rectangle – these will be the moon phases. As I’m in the UK, I used a 2 pence piece.
Next, color the 8 phases of the moon, starting with the fully dark new moon.
Write the names of each moon phase under the drawings.
Next, draw a moon with a diameter of 8cm. I used a mug that was just the right size but a compass would obviously work! Color the circle to look like the moon.
Cut around the outside of the template, and your moon.
Take the large moon and fold it in half. Cut down the middle to make 2 equal-sized halves. Glue one half to each of the tabs at the ends of the template.
When the glue is dry, fold the template along the vertical lines in an accordion or concertina style. You can then close your moon by folding it up, and open it to reveal the moon phases inside.
If you’d prefer not to draw out the template and moons, there’s a differentiated ready-to-print versions of this activity in my TeacherPayTeachers store for both the northern and southern hemispheres.
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