Activity: Mapping the Solar System

Help children understand how our solar system works and appreciate God’s creations.

Explain to the children that they are going to make a map of the solar system. Assign each child to be the sun or a planet (if possible, give each child a sign with the name of their assigned planet or the sun). Ask the person who is the sun to stand in the center of the area. Have the other children take a certain number of steps away from “the sun” to represent how far each planet is from the sun (one step = 36 million miles/58 million km).

• Ask the child representing Neptune to take 78 steps in a straight line away from the sun. Neptune is 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion km) away from the sun.
• The next child represents Uranus, 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km), or 50 steps, from the sun.
• Next comes Saturn, 885 million miles (1.4 billion km), or 25 steps, from the sun.
• Jupiter should stop 483 million miles (777 million km), or 13 steps, from the sun.
• Mars is only 142 million miles (229 million km), or four steps, from the sun.
• Earth is 93 million miles (150 million km), or three steps, from the sun.
• The child representing Venus only needs to take two steps away from the sun to reach 67 million miles (108 million km) away.
• The closest planet to the sun is Mercury, at only 36 million miles (58 million km), or one step, from the sun.

Teach the children the difference between a planet’s rotation and its orbit.

• Each planet rotates on its axis. One full rotation equals one day. On Earth, it takes 24 hours to make one rotation.

  • Have the children spin in place where they are standing in the solar system map.

• Each planet also orbits, or moves in a circle, around the sun. One full orbit equals one year. Earth takes 365 1/4 days to circle the sun.

  • Have the children demonstrate rotating and orbiting by twirling around and walking around the sun.
• The sun always stays at the center.

If possible, show pictures of the planets and other images from space. Discuss how big the universe is. Testify that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ made the world, the solar system, and all the other solar systems and galaxies in the universe.

Please adapt activities as necessary to ensure all individuals are able to participate, belong, and contribute.

• If you do not have enough children to represent the entire solar system, have each child choose a planet and place markers for the sun and any remaining planets.
• If you have more than 9 children in your group, some of the children could represent moons that orbit planets. In addition to Earth’s moon, Mars has 2 moons, Jupiter has 79 known moons, Saturn has 53 named moons (with 9 more possible moons), Uranus has 27 moons, and Neptune has 14 moons.
• If you do not have enough room for a child to take 78 steps away from the sun, use another consistent measure, such as an inch or centimeter (Mercury would then be 36 inches or 36 centimeters from the sun, and so forth).
• Service idea: Talk about how the sun gives light to all the planets in the solar system, just as Jesus Christ—the Son—gives light to everyone in the world. Consider watching the #LighttheWorld video and finding a way to help spread the light of Christ to those around you.

• Learning about Stars
• Understanding Clouds
• Learning Is Fun
• How Plants Grow
• Exploring Science
• Learning about Music
• Discovering and Appreciating Animals