Activity: What makes the planets circle around the sun?<\/strong><\/p>\n They already know that planets move around the sun. But what role does gravity play in determining their paths?<\/p>\n To help them find out, fasten a string to a ball<\/a> or buy any one of a number of available ball-on-a-string games. Tell your young astronomers that they are the sun, the ball is a planet, and the string is like gravity. Then have them swing the ball around them.<\/p>\n After a few loops, point out how the ball moved in a circle around them, and ask what we call that circle (an orbit). Also ask: what would happen to the ball if the string broke?<\/p>\n The answer is that the ball would fly off (you can demonstrate this by swinging the ball around you and letting go of the string). Without the sun\u2019s gravity, the planets would fly off into space just like the ball. The sun\u2019s gravity holds our solar system together.<\/p>\n 2. Activity: Are the planets all the same size?<\/strong><\/p>\n They know from the solar system games they\u2019ve played and from solar system videos for kids that some planets are bigger than others and some are smaller. But how much bigger and smaller are they? This activity will helps kids to better grasp the relative sizes of the planets with a scale that is easy to see and understand.<\/p>\n Using the measurements below, make planets out of playdough \u2014 there are recipes for playdough<\/a> on the internet. The sizes listed here are in centimeters to practice the metric system used in science. This activity also offers an opportunity for kids to gather experience in using a ruler to make measurements.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>From smallest to largest, make planets with the following diameters:<\/p>\n