I am loving playing with all these Galaxy Unit crafts and worksheets. If you missed the last post we covered Moon Phases with Oreos! This time we are talking about the Planets. We put together this really stellar Solar System Planet Model for kids. Its sturdy and the perfect school project if your child is in need of one.
My kids learned so much when building this Solar System Planet Model. It was a great help for their worksheets to be able to see it and move it around if they needed to, to answer the questions.
Do you have a little astronaut? Help them create this Solar System Planet Model and create memories as well.
Related: Learning About Planets Printable Workbook – Galaxy Unit
Solar System Planet Model
What You Need
2—1″ Foam Balls
3—1 1/2″ Foam Balls
3—2 ½” Foam Balls
1—4″ Foam Balls
Craft Paint—Red, Blue, Black, Orange, Yellow, Green, White, Brown
8 Wooden Skewers
2 Styrofoam Cups (8oz.)
Black Paper Plate
Sheet of Tan Foam for crafts
3 Pipe Cleaners, yellow
8 Small Round White Stickers
Black Marker
Hot Glue Gun
Ruler
Related: Galaxy Jar Kids Activity- Galaxy Unit
How to make Solar System Planet Model for Kids
Hold the skewers by the pointed end and paint them all black. Don’t worry about painting the point. Also, paint one cup all black on the outside. The other cup you will paint the top outer edge black so that when you stack them no white is showing. Let these dry and stack the cups with the bottom face up.
Next, you can paint the foam balls the colors of the planets and let them dry. Here are the colors I did for each planet:
Mercury-gray with a little white – 1″ ball
Venus-yellow and orange – 1.5″ ball
Earth-blue, green, and a little white – 1.5″ ball
Mars-red with a bit of orange – 1″ ball
Jupiter-light brown with a few white stripes – 2.5″ ball
Saturn-Yellow with a few brown stripes – 2.5″ ball
Uranus-light blue with a bit of white – 2.5″ ball
Neptune-blue with a bit of white – 1.5″ ball
The Sun-yellow – 4″ ball
Related: Astronauts and Space Shuttles Printable Workbook
Hot glue the Sun to the bottom of the black cups and let dry.
Cut each skewer down a little bit so you have 8 different lengths and put a planet on the flat end of each skewer. Start with Mercury on the shortest skewer and work up in planet order to the longest skewer.
Hot glue the bottom of the cup to the center of the black plate.
Start with Mercury and poke the skewer into the cup close to the sun at the top of the cup. Continue next with Venus but place it a bit lower and about an inch over from the first one. Continue on with Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They should look like they are going around the sun.
Underneath the corresponding planet, place a sticker on the plate with that planets name written on it.
Optional Step: Make a ring for Saturn with the tan foam by cutting out about a 2 3/4” circle. Cut the inside of that circle out, leaving about a ¼” ring and slip it over the Saturn planet.
What is your favorite planet? Don’t forget about the Moon Phases – these two go hand in hand.
What You Need
- 2 1” Foam Balls
- 3 1 ½” Foam Balls
- 3 2 ½” Foam Balls
- 1 4” Foam Ball
- Craft Paint Blue, Red, Black, Orange, Yellow, Green, White, Brown
- 8 Wooden Skewers
- 2 Styrofoam Cups 8oz.
- Black Paper Plate
- Sheet of Tan Foam for crafts optional
- 3 Yellow Pipe Cleaners
- 8 Small Round White Stickers
- Black Marker
- Hot Glue Gun
- Ruler
Directions
-
Hold the skewers by the pointed end and paint them all black.
-
Paint one cup all black on the outside. The other cup you will paint the top outer edge black so that when you stack them no white is showing. Let these dry and stack the cups with the bottom face up.
Painting the Planets
-
Next, you can paint the foam balls the colors of the planets and let them dry. Here are the colors I did for each planet:
-
Mercury-gray with a little white - 1" ball
Venus-yellow and orange - 1.5" ball
Earth-blue, green, and a little white - 1.5" ball
Mars-red with a bit of orange - 1" ball
Jupiter-light brown with a few white stripes - 2.5" ball
Saturn-Yellow with a few brown stripes - 2.5" ball
Uranus-light blue with a bit of white - 2.5" ball
Neptune-blue with a bit of white - 1.5" ball
The Sun-yellow - 4" ball
Assembling the Model
-
Hot glue the Sun to the bottom of the black cups and let dry.
-
Cut each skewer down a little bit so you have 8 different lengths and put a planet on the flat end of each skewer. Start with Mercury on the shortest skewer and work up in planet order to the longest skewer.
-
Hot glue the bottom of the cup to the center of the black plate.
-
Start with Mercury and poke the skewer into the cup close to the sun at the top of the cup. Continue next with Venus but place it a bit lower and about an inch over from the first one. Continue on with Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They should look like they are going around the sun.
-
Underneath the corresponding planet, place a sticker on the plate with that planets name written on it.
-
Optional Step: Make a ring for Saturn with the tan foam by cutting out about a 2 3/4” circle. Cut the inside of that circle out, leaving about a ¼” ring and slip it over the Saturn planet.
Diane says
This looks so much fun doing with the kids. And educational too!
Gladys Parker says
That is the coolest looking hand made solar system. The way you have it all written down and laid out in steps with diagrams makes it look not too difficult. My grandchildren would love making this with me and I them.
Chelley says
I LOVE that this is still a thing. This is my exact science project from 2nd grade and I cannot wait to make it with my own kids… only mine had Pluto 😉
Our Family World says
I remember making this when I was in high school. Everyone in the class had to make a solar system model and we donated them to the elementary schools in and around our area. Maybe I could suggest this to my teacher friend. She can start the same campaign we did years ago when we were kids.
Kelly Reci says
Such a cute and fun idea. And the good thing about this is very educational. I have to try this at home for the kids.
Cindy Gordon says
The kids really love making space models. They are so much fun and look cool!
Cindy Ingalls says
What a fun idea. It brings back such great memories of being a kid. I’ve always love astronomy and studying the planets. It’s great to share that with my nieces and nephew.
Ann Snook-Moreau says
This sounds like such a fun and hands-on way to learn about the planets. I really like your moon phase project, though . . . anything involving cookies is alright in my book lol!
Elizabeth O says
This looks like the perfect at home model making idea, I love how it is fun and educational too and the end result is awesome! Great job.
Pat says
What a great project–a solar system mobile. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to make.
Patricia says
This is a great idea! I wish I would have come across this sooner, it would have been a great science project when I homeschooled my daughters!
Holly says
This is an awesome craft idea. This is perfect for kids. I am definitely going to give this a try.
Sarah says
Wow this looks professional! And it doesn’t look hard to make! My kids would love this when they get older.
Preet says
What an amazing project idea, I really like how detailed the post is. I would love to try this with my kids, they love science and geography.
Carol Cassara says
I think I’ve done this a couple of times as kid and it’s awesome to do something like this for children so they can learn more about the planets. I love the idea of making your own, it’s so much!
Niki says
Wow! This is so cool! I”m going to totally try this with my niece. Thanks so much for this tutorial.
angie says
I so recall making solar systems with my own children. This would have been such a great guide to go by thanks for sharing
Chelsa says
Thanks so much for the tutorial! My sixth grader has to make one for science class. We are going to use your instructions.