Tapestry of Faith: Chalice Children: A Program about Our Unitarian Universalist Community for Preschoolers

Taking It Home: Wondering About the Moon

The light of the moon on each upturned face . . . we gaze up in wonder above to the sky. — "The Sun at High Noon," Hymn 14 in Singing the Living Tradition

IN TODAY'S SESSION . . . the theme was "We wonder about the moon." The moon is part of our natural world. Contact with the natural world is one of the 12 main types of experiences connected with natural religious development in young children. We shared our wonder about the moon and found out more about the moon. We learned that we share our wonder together as part of our congregational community.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER . . . Read some of the books suggested for this session:

  • Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle, 1991. Monica's father fulfills her request for the moon by taking it down when it is small enough to carry, but it continues to change in size.
  • Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes, 2004. In this award-winning picture book, a kitten pursues a big bowl of milk, not realizing it is the moon.
  • Moon Plane by Peter McCarty, 2006. A young boy sees a plane overhead and imagines himself in it, traveling all the way to the moon. What does he see on his way?
  • Moon Man by Tomi Ungerer, 2009. The man in the moon looks down on the happy, dancing people on Earth every night, wishing he could join them.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Find a big window or outdoor spot where you can watch the moonrise together, at night.

A Family Adventure. Find out if there is a planetarium nearby that you could visit.

A Family Discovery. Explore the moon by watching NASA's Solar System Exploration videos.

A Family Game. Separate sandwich cookies with a white filling and scrape off the filling to make different moon phases—and then eat the cookies! Or, learn how to sing the traditional nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle":

Hey, diddle, diddle

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed to see such fun,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

A Family Ritual. Watch for the full moon every 29 evenings, when it appears. Or read Walk When the Moon Is Full by Frances Hamerstrum and begin a family tradition of full-moon walks.