Teach children about the solar system with this fun and interactive classroom activity idea!
Perfect for elementary school science lessons, download our free printable planets to create a bright and colorful classroom display that lets school children take turns sticking the planets in the correct order!
What You Need
- Free printable planets
- Thin white card (to make the printables more sturdy)
- VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back Dots
- Colorful A1 card for the background
What to Do
- Prepare your parts.
Start by setting up your display’s background—we used a bright blue piece of A1 card. Next, cut out all the printables.
- Glue your sun and title.
Stick the sun and the title of the display on with glue, as they’ll stay fixed in place for the whole activity.
- Strengthen your planets.
Mount each printable planet onto cardboard to make it more sturdy.
- Bring out your VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back Dots.
Stick the soft side (the loop) of your VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back Dots onto the back of each planet. Next, stick the other side of each dot (the hook side) in position on the display.
Top tip: Plan where each planet needs to go before you stick anything down, so you know you have enough space.
The correct order of the planets is:
- Mercury (closest to the sun)
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto (furthest from the sun and no longer an official planet!)
A good mnemonic for remembering the order of the planets is: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Why not ask your class to try making up their own?
And that’s it!
Your solar system classroom activity is ready for your students to try their hand at putting the planets in the correct order! It also makes a brilliant space-themed display for your classroom wall!
Let us know if you try out this science activity
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