When I say give your kids the moon, I don’t mean to spoil them within an inch of their lives or shower them with copious material possessions. In fact, I’d be willing to bet most of us would really appreciate it if you didn’t. Nobody wants to deal with the fallout of THAT.
I’m talking about giving them the literal moon by teaching them some handy moony facts and mad moon skilz.
Who among us hasn’t gazed up at the moon with fascination and wonder? It isn’t a coincidence that one of the most popular children’s books is “Goodnight, Moon”.
It has had a grip on us all at one point or another. As our biggest, oldest, and most constant satellite, (yet , weirdly, not the only one) it’s little wonder that humans remain endlessly in thrall to that glowing orb so high above our planet.
By teaching your kids about the moon and giving them the ability to learn the different phases, facts, and fallacies, you are giving them the gift of the moon itself and all of its riveting, unfolding mystery.
On this week’s Nature Just Got Real! podcast for kids Summer minicast episode, we focus on the moon, it’s phases, how to tell if it’s waxing or waning, and some other fun looks at a few myths that people historically thought was true about the moon. (Cheese platter, anyone?)
Included with this episode is the free PDF Activity and Log sheet. Kids can lean the different phase names of the moon, what they look like, as well as a log sheet that lets them track the phases of the moon by drawing and charting what they see.
The podcast episode called “The Mysterious Moon- S3, Ep 3” will teach kids an easy way to tell immediately whether the moon is waxing or waning. Hint: it has to do with the “wax on, wax off part of the original Karate Kid movie. You might remember that one!
It’s also narrated by my dog, who had waaaay too good a time taking about the myths. And wolves. And me.
You can listen to the podcast HERE or if you want to watch my smartalec dog talking, you can see the video HERE.
Don’t forget to download the free activity sheets so your kids can learn and track the moon phases. You can get it below:
I’ll leave you to it as I sing under my breath, “I see the moon and the moon sees me…”
Go out and have a Luny, Moony adventure in YOUR neighborhood!
K.B. and Crew
P.S. If you want a deeper dive, more Moon activities, facts, lesson plan, and vocabulary words to give your kids a fuller learning experience, there's a full activity packet for purchase HERE. You can get the activity PDF or the lesson plan, or bundle both together for a discount. Regardless, the podcast episode, log sheet and episode PDF are free. Then new Moon is on June 29th, and that would be an excellent day to start!