Phases of the Moon and Facts About the Moon for Kids

Published:
August 17, 2018

Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

There have been some of the most amazing night skies this summer with so many planets visible, it’s been wonderful to star gaze and marvel at God’s creation. My kids have always loved looking at the moon since they were little toddlers, wanting to see it peek out of the clouds, and light up the sky. Teach your kids all about the moon with these free printables and unit studies on the moon. Also, explore the different phases of the moon and facts about the moon for kids.

picture of the night sky moon and text overlay Free Printables and Unit Studies on the MoonLearning about Earth’s Moon

If your children are fascinated with the night sky they will love to learn about the moon with these printables and unit studies. We love doing unit studies in our homeschool. You can pair this unit study with a family night of stargazing on a brightly lit full moon night!

Free Moon Printables and Unit Studies:

Montessori Inspired Moon Printables – Your kids will love free printable phases of the moon cut and paste activity worksheets, coloring pages, and card booklets.

Moon Phases Mini Book – This moon phase printable you can make into a mini book! There’s also links for constellations and more about the solar system.

Phases of the Moon Printable Worksheets

Phases of the Moon Worksheets and Printables – These fun worksheets will teach your kids the names of each moon phase and come with pages to track the time and date of the phases.

Montessori Moon Cutting Strips – Great scissor cutting skill practice and fun activity for toddlers with these pretty moon cutting strips.

Solar System: Moon Unit Study – Kids will love the DIY telescope science project.

Moon Printable

Moon Printables – This link has fun art projects for kids like making moon rocks and painting moon phases with a trick to thicken the paint for texture for the moons.

Moon Phases Nature Study Printable Pack – Download fun free moon phase nature unit studies.

Phases of the Moon Worksheet

Moon Phases Worksheets – In addition to moon phase worksheets, kids will also learn about the alignment of the sun, moon, and earth, how they all work together to produce tides.

Oreo Cookie Phases of the Moon Activity with Printable Activity Guide – This is a fun, hands-on activity kids will love because they get to eat Oreos while learning about the different phases of the moon.

Phases of the Moon Unit Study

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to gain access to our free Phases of the Moon Unit Study. 

Phases of the Moon Free Unit Study pages printed out

Free Facts About Earth’s Moon

Free Facts About Earth’s Moon Research Journal – Exciting worksheets for kids about the moon with illustration, questions, and answering key. facts about earth\'s moon a notebooking research project

Phases of the Moon Printables

Printable Phases of the Moon Yhatzee type of game – Free PDF download for educational Yhatzee card game about the phases of the moon, fun and easy enough for the whole family to play and learn together.

Phases of the Moon Printable Flip Book – Make your own cute little moon phase flip book with this free printable. 

Moon Observation Journal – What a cool idea to keep a moon observation journal to record nightly and notice as changes go by.

Moon Tracker and Moon Printables – These super kid friendly phases of the moon printable worksheets offer coloring pages, cut and paste activities, labeling, and notebooking to get the most out of learning all about the moon.

PDF MOON FACTS DOWNLOAD: Facts About Earth’s Moon

Phases of the Moon

As students gaze at the moon every night, they will see how it doesn’t quite look the same each time. The phases of the moon are the different ways the moon looks from the Earth throughout the month. Students can learn all about the moon phases with our phases of the moon printable.

The Moon Never Actually Changes Shapes

Although students may be intrigued about the different shapes the moon has, they will be even more shocked to know that the moon doesn’t change shapes at all.

The Moon Doesn’t Shine Light

Another interesting fact about the moon is that it doesn’t shine light the way the sun shines light. Sunlight is the only source of light in our solar system. The “moonlight” that we see is, in fact, the sun’s light reflecting off the moon’s surface. The moon doesn’t have its own light, even though it looks like it does.

When the moon orbits around the Earth, the side of the moon facing the sun is lit. The phases of the moon are the different shapes we see as the moon-lit portion from Earth.

Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere

Half of the moon is always lit by the sun. That is hard to comprehend for many. People in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere see the lunar phases differently from one another, from different angles. It depends on where you are in the world. Basically, the moon phases are controlled by the positions of the moon itself, earth, and sun.

Lunar Calendar

Each of the eight phases of the moon completes its lunar cycle every 29.53 days, so each moon cycle repeats once every 29.53 days. This time period is known as a lunar month.

Since a lunar month is shorter than the standard calendar month, modern societies no longer use it. However, many ancient societies measured their time in lunar months or “moons” including Chinese, Babylonians, Greeks, and Jews civilizations.

8 Primary Phases of the Moon:

NOTE: When the moon looks to be growing or getting larger it is called “waxing.” When it gets smaller it’s called “waning.” The first phases of the moon are known to be waxing and the last phases are considered to be waning.

New Moon Phase

This new moon is the first lunar phase and is when the moon seems to completely disappear. It is completely facing the moon and is not illuminated. The new moon rises as the sun rises.

Waxing Crescent Moon Phase

This moon phase is in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s when the moon starts to show some as it starts its orbit. While in the sky, the moon looks like tiny silver light. This type of phase can be seen every evening for a few minutes after the sun sets.

First Quarter (Half Moon) Phase

In this phase, half of the moon is visible for the first half of the evening and comes a week after the new moon. In the first quarter, the moon is illuminated halfway, and which half depends on where you are in the Earth.

Waxing Gibbous Moon Phase

Starting right after the First Quarter, the illumination is about 50%. The gibbous phase is named after the moon’s shapes it is less than the full moon but bigger than the Third Quarter.

Full Moon Phase

The Full Moon is when the Moon and Sun are aligned on the exact opposite side of the Earth. 100% of the Moon’s face is lit up by the Sun. Since the moon is in constant motion around the Earth, it never really stays a full moon for long.

Waning Gibbous Moon Phase

Following the Full Moon, the moon starts waning or decreasing to the Waning Gibbous Phase. The illumination of sunlight from this phase is anywhere from 99.9% to 50.1%; and this happens from one day to the next.

Third Quarter Moon Phase

This phase is also called the Last Quarter Moon Phase and is a half moon. The last quarter phase is in the waning period of the moon phases.

Waning Crescent Phase

The waning crescent moon looks like a thin light on the left in the Northern Hemisphere. The lunar disk isn’t visible to the unaided eye but can be seen because of the stars behind it.

Some sources sat there is another phase of the moon called the Dark Moon. Yet, the New Moon and Dark Moon are virtually identical and happen simultaneously.

More Facts on Moon Phases

There is so much more to learn about moon phases. For instance, once every 3 years, there is a second full moon in one calendar month called a Blue Moon. There is a time when the moon moves exceptionally close to Earth and looks about 7% to 15% larger, this is called a Super Pink Moon. Then there is a Sturgeon Moon, Worm Moon, or Hunter’s Moon. You kids will find them fun to learn about.

A moon phase is an angle of the moon to the Earth that appears different to us every day. Now, when our family gazes at the night sky a little bit in the course of the month, there is so much for your family to think about.

Once children learn about moon phases, they can wonder if they are looking at the back end of the moon or front. They can understand how the moon has no light, yet the sun’s reflection on the moon lights up the sky even in the darkest of nights. Use the resource below to help teach your students about the moon phases at home.

Phases of the Moon Unit Study PDF Download

Use this moon printable as a soft introduction to teach your kids about the primary moon phases. These phases of the moon printable worksheets come with information cards, nomenclature flashcards, poems, paper for copying poems and taking other notes, and more!

Phases of the Moon Free Unit Study pages printed out

How to Download Phases of the Moon Unit Study

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