April 13, 2015
DIY Solar System Map with Free Printables
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Like many 4-year-olds, Henry is in love with space! I needed an easy, cheap Montessori inspired way to teach Henry about the planets and came up with this DIY solar system. As I mentioned in our Montessori inspired space unit, this map has been a huge hit! And, it's way easier to make than it looks!
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Plus, it's just a really simple and easy project, which I love. You could even have a child help you make this or have it on a shelf for older children to make as follow up to the great lesson work. There's just a lot of possibilities here.
DIY Solar System Mat for Montessori Learning
- Black felt (36 inch square)
- White embroidery floss
- Chalk
- 8 wooden balls in assorted sizes or these
- Large wooden circle
- Acrylic paint
Making the Map
First, to make this map, you need to make the planets. I used wooden balls and tried to keep them in proportion to their real sizes. Therefore, Mercury is the smallest wooden ball, Jupiter is the biggest and everything else is in between.
Once I had picked the wooden balls that I was going to use, I looked at pictures of each planet and painted in similar colors and patterns. I used the acrylic paint to directly onto the wood. Then, painted the larger circle as the sun. I'm in no way an artist, so these aren't perfect. They are just supposed to be representations, so don't get hung up on trying to make them look exactly right.
Once I had picked the wooden balls that I was going to use, I looked at pictures of each planet and painted in similar colors and patterns. I used the acrylic paint to directly onto the wood. Then, painted the larger circle as the sun. I'm in no way an artist, so these aren't perfect. They are just supposed to be representations, so don't get hung up on trying to make them look exactly right.
Next, I made the actual solar system mat. This was the most time consuming step. To make, lay the sun in the center of your felt. Then, using the chalk, draw 8 circles around the sun. The first four are closer to each other and then spread out.
I used chalk because its easy to see on the black, and can be easily erased if your circles need a little work -- I know mine did! Making a little compass with string would help to get the chalk circles a lot more perfect that I could make free handedly.
I used chalk because its easy to see on the black, and can be easily erased if your circles need a little work -- I know mine did! Making a little compass with string would help to get the chalk circles a lot more perfect that I could make free handedly.
Once the circles are drawn, you can use the embroidery thread to start sewing. Follow the lines you've drawn until each of the eight circles are completed. I just used a basic stitch because that is the extent of my sewing knowledge.
This is a great stage to tag in a child to help sew! I know that Gus or Nora would have loved to sew this and would have been able to do a great job completing this stage of the project. I might even make smaller mats available on our shelves for follow up work.
This is a great stage to tag in a child to help sew! I know that Gus or Nora would have loved to sew this and would have been able to do a great job completing this stage of the project. I might even make smaller mats available on our shelves for follow up work.
Grab a Free Printable
Once the sewing is done, you can use my free printable to complete the project! The printable includes the small planet cards, the names and the control map. The images in the printable are real pictures of the planets from NASA. I chose to mount the small planet pictures to a small wooden tiles with some modge podge to add a little strength, but that's not necessary.
The printable was a great way to provide a control of error for placing the planets on the map. It's also nice to provide a real picture of each planet instead of just the painted versions.
This project was way easier and cheaper than I could have imagined. It took some time to sew all the circles, but it's been a great hands on way to teach my kids about the solar system. Hopefully, it's the same for you!
