Model of the Phase of the Moon with Midnight at the Moon

Space has always been a favorite activity at our house! We are always doing something with it. Today is a fun look at how the moon travels around the earth.

Plus learn about why it changes shape. We have loved learning about the moon.

I know that we are excited that for this Magic Tree House Activity.

Model of the Phase of the Moon with Midnight at the Moon - a fun 3D model to make to show the phase of the moon and how it goes around the Earth - 3Dinosaurs.com

The book we are in is Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House, No. 8).

I love that this book 8 is about the moon! We had a blast with the anniversary of the moon landing this summer. We did several new moon activities.

Several years ago we made the Phase of the Moon Wreaths. They were a blast to make and loads of fun. We wanted to show the same activity by showing how the moon only faces one direction as it goes around the moon.

What you need to make the 3D Model of the Phases of the moon

These are all the items that we used to make this project.

How to Make the 3D Model of the Phases of the Moon

This activity has a lot of fine motor work. I love using model magic because it is so easy to work with. There are several sets of balls to cover with model magic for this activity.

We started by putting the yellow model magic on our sun. We worked on covering the whole half ball with the yellow foam. It was a lot of work to cover it all. You take the model magic and press it onto the ball and them smooth it out as you go.

Next, we used the green and blue model magic to make the Earth. You cover the ball in a mix of the two colors. You can do this as close or not as you want to the Earth.

Then we covered the moon models with half white and half black. We made eight of those balls. Each of these balls would be the moon going around the Earth.

We placed the glitter cardstock on the form sheet. They are both about the same size so they fit on it nicely. Then we started placing our sun, Earth and moon on the area. We used toothpicks to keep them in place.

We place the sun at the edge of the black paper. It was slightly off the board. We put the toothpicks in the board and then placed the foam over the top of the toothpicks.

Then we placed the Earth in the center. We made sure we left space to place the moons around the Earth.

We started by placing the quarter moons, full moon, and new moon first. They are easy to play around the Earth. You make sure the white part of the moon in facing the sun. You can see the toothpicks in the foam.

Next, we placed the rest of the moon on the mat. They made a full circle around the Earth. This shows how the moon moves around the Earth. It also shows that the moon always has one side facing the moon and one side that is always dark.

Now we worked on labeling the phases of the moon. We used the Phases of the Moon Sequencing set to help with this.

We cut out the eight phases of the moon from a cut and paste activity from the set. We use the page has had the sentences for the phases.

Then we taped the papers onto toothpicks. This made them easy to put onto the moons.

We placed the tags onto the moons. We put them for what phase the moon would be as it goes around the Earth. Now we did Northern Hemisphere. If you are Southern Hemisphere the tags would be different.

After you are done you can look at the moon and see where the moon is around the earth and the phase that it is in. A simple and easy activity that shows show the moon stays the same as it goes around the earth and how the moon changes phases.

Here is a look at our Phases of the moon Activity

Model of the Phase of the Moon with Midnight at the Moon - a fun 3D model to make to show the phase of the moon and how it goes around the Earth - 3Dinosaurs.com