Arts & Crafts Activity: Learn the Planets for Kids! | Earth Yay!

Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:

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[Music]

Hello campers! My name is Camp Counselor Janae, and I will be one of your camp counselors for the next six weeks. I want to welcome you to our very first read-along and activity for camp. You’ll also meet our other camp counselors, Iz and Norb, from one of our favorite books, “Where Are You?” and our new friend, Blue Marvel, from the book we’ll be reading today, “Earth Yay!”

This week is all about being an explorer, and after today’s live read-aloud and activity, you’ll be able to receive your explorer badge. We will have a new badge to collect every week, so make sure you follow along with Camp Books for the next five weeks. We hope you enjoyed watching “Where Are You, Bear in Underwear,” “Let’s Explore Space,” and “Alice’s Magic Garden.” What did you like best: camping in space or exploring the garden? Were you able to watch them all? What about doing the activities that go along with them? Feel free to share with us in the comments, and you can ask your grown-ups for help if you need it.

Now, today we have a very special book to share with you. It’s called “Earth Yay!” Does anyone have any ideas what it’s about? I think it’s probably going to be about learning a little bit more about Earth and hopefully some other planets. Let’s start “Earth Yay!” together! Put your explorer caps on and get ready to have some fun!

But before we get started with the book, we are going to do a craft to help you remember the eight planets in our solar system and how close or far they are from the sun. You’ll need one paint stir stick, eight clothespins, and some markers. Oh, and get your badge ready for coloring at the end!

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“Earth Yay!”

It sure is lonely out here. Hmm, I wonder what the other planets have been up to lately. I should go visit them!

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Hi Mercury! Oh hey, Earth! Long time no see! I was about to go on a run. Want to race around the sun? Let’s go!

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Wow, you’re fast! You ran four laps in the time I did one.

Thanks! I’m little, but I’m the speediest planet in the whole solar system. Mercury zooms around the sun every 88 days.

Hi Earth! Do you mind if I borrow your moon to shoot hoops?

I don’t have one.

No problem, Venus! I’ll come play with you!

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Good game! Good game! Oh, you didn’t miss a shot!

You’re on fire, Venus!

Well, I am the hottest planet in the solar system.

The surface temperature of Venus can reach 880 degrees Fahrenheit.

Oh, how’s it going, Mars? Come surf the asteroid belt with me!

We made it through! Whoa, all that surfing turned up some of your rusty red dust.

Righteous! Hey, that’s why they call me the Red Planet! I’m the reddest and raddest around!

Mars gets its color from an abundance of iron oxide, commonly known as rust.

Jupiter, what’s up, big guy?

Not too much. Um, I did pick up a new hobby.

Nice!

Basketball! Weightlifting now!

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That was beautiful! I didn’t know the biggest planet in the solar system was so graceful.

Thanks! I may be large, but I’m light on my feet. Jupiter is mainly made up of gases such as hydrogen and helium.

Hi Saturn! Um, your rings look extra sparkly today!

Y’all are too sweet! I added some shiny ice chunks to the rocky bits and space dust.

Come hula with me! She’s the most amazing planet in the universe! Galileo first spotted Saturn’s rings in 1610.

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Wow! Your hula hooping skills are electrifying!

Are you trying to look cooler than me?

No way, Uranus! Everyone knows you’re the coolest planet around!

That’s a fact! Sorry for the frosty greeting. Uranus has the coldest recorded temperature of any planet at negative 371 degrees Fahrenheit.

What are you doing way out here in Neptune?

I like how quiet and beautiful it is. Oh, look how those comets light up the sky!

Beyond Neptune, the Kuiper Belt is a source of comets.

It’s the best view in the solar system!

Wow, the other planets are so special! I’m not the fastest, the biggest, or the coolest.

I must be the most boring planet in the solar system.

Wake up!

What?

We have something for you, tiny blue marble!

For me?

Surprise! Your air is the freshest! You’re covered in flowing water, and most importantly…

Happy New Year!

Thanks, friends! You made me the happiest planet in the whole solar system!

[Music]

Wow! Did you know that there are eight planets that revolve around the sun? Which planet was your favorite? Type your answer or have your grown-up help you to type your answer in the comments. We would love to know which one was your favorite!

In “Earth Yay!”, the little blue marble learns that it’s a pretty special planet because it’s the only one with life on it in the solar system.

Now, do you have your supplies ready for our first activity? First thing we need to do is draw the sun and eight planets on our paint stirring stick. Is the sun a planet? No, but the planets in the solar system revolve around it, so we’re going to add that one first.

I’m going to draw it right here, just like this, and fill it in. Remember, this does not have to be perfect; you just have fun with it and color it in.

Now, I like to color the end in like this, and then I like to add some little sun rays coming off of it.

Now I’m going to be using markers to add the planets in the sun, and you can follow along with me with the same colors if you’d like, or you can choose your own colors for your solar system.

Next, we’re going to add the planets. The closest planet to the sun is the fastest. Do you remember which planet that is?

It’s Mercury! Mercury is the smallest of the planets, so I’m going to make sure that I don’t make the planets too large because we need to fit all eight of them on the paint stick.

So we’re going to do Mercury right here, and remember it doesn’t have to be a perfect circle.

There’s my Mercury! Now the second planet is the hottest planet. Can you tell me which planet was the hottest?

Great job for all of you who are guessing! It’s Venus! I’m going to use orange to color in Venus because I think it represents heat really well.

It’s a little bit bigger than Mercury, so I’m going to color it bigger right here.

Can you remember what the third planet is? I’ll give you a hint: it’s the only planet that is full of life.

You guessed it! It’s Earth, or as we like to call it, the little blue marble! Earth has a lot of water on it, so I’m going to use blue, and it’s almost the same size as Venus, so we’re going to draw it right next to Venus like that.

The fourth planet in our solar system is the raddest and reddest planet because of iron oxide or rust. Do you remember the name?

That’s right! It’s Mars! I’ll color Mars red to show the rest. It’s the second smallest planet, so I’ll make it a little bit bigger than Mercury, just a little bit bigger though.

And see, my circles aren’t perfect either, so don’t worry if yours are not perfect!

The next planet is the biggest but light on its feet. If you remember the name of this planet, don’t forget to have your grown-up help you to type the answers in the chat.

It’s Jupiter! I’m going to make Jupiter the largest and color it pink. I really like the color pink!

And the planet Jupiter is actually pink. Did you know that? Just kidding, it’s not pink; I just like pink, so I’m gonna do that one.

And I fill it in. Remember, make it the biggest one!

The biggest planet right there!

Okay, the sixth planet has a beautiful ring around it. You guessed it! It’s Saturn, and it’s the second largest planet, so we’ll put it right next to Jupiter.

I’m using green, and I’m going to use the black marker to give it its ring, just like that.

Two planets left! Our next one is the coldest of them all. It has a recorded temperature of negative 371 degrees. Do you know which planet that is?

Amazing! It’s Uranus! I think light blue is a good color to represent cold, and I’m going to make the planet a little bit smaller than Saturn.

Now, the last planet in our solar system is the furthest from the sun. Do you remember what it is?

It’s Neptune! I’m going to color Neptune purple and make it a little bit smaller than Uranus.

Alright, the last thing we need to do is label all of our clothespins with the names of the eight planets. So I’m going to use my black marker, and I’m going to grab a clothespin and write each name.

We’ll start with Mercury, and you can ask your grown-up for help with this if you’d like.

So we’ve got Mercury. Next is Venus. Then we have, which one is third? It’s Earth!

So we’ll write Earth. And then we have our reddest and raddest planet, Mars.

Next up is Jupiter. After Jupiter, we have Saturn. Then Uranus, and lastly, we have Neptune.

Okay, now we can use the clothespins to match to the colors on our paint stick. So we’re gonna mix them up a little bit, just like that.

Then we pick up our paint stick, and we’re gonna decide which clothespin matches the color.

Let’s start with one that I think you all can get. Mars! Can you tell me where Mars is on the paint stick? Remember, it’s our reddest and raddest planet, so we’ll put it on the red planet right there. Great job!

Okay, let’s do another one. I’m gonna pick another one that I think you all can get.

Okay, can you tell me where Jupiter is? Jupiter is one of the biggest planets, and it’s pink! Well, at least I colored it pink, so we’ll put it right there on Jupiter.

Now let’s do one last one that I think you’re all going to be able to get. Can you all tell me where Earth is?

Do you remember? Earth is our little blue marble, so we can put Earth right there.

Now you can also add the colors to the clothespins if you’d like to make it a little bit easier for younger children.

Way to go, explorers! You have finished your solar system craft! Now you can practice sharing with others how far and close the planets are from the sun. You also learned all about a little blue marble and the rest of its planet friends. Great job!

Okay, we have one more fun activity to do! You can now receive your explorer badge for finishing your very first week of Camp Books. You’re going to need coloring utensils and scissors.

Now, I already decorated and cut out my explorer badge. It was so much fun, and I can’t wait for next week so that I can earn my next badge! Are you excited too?

I can’t wait to see how you decorate your explorer badge, and we would love to see your decorated badges! With approval from your grown-up or camp counselors, please share your badge and activities with Books by tagging Camp Books on social media.

If you’ve loved these activities, don’t forget we have many more at books.com/resources. Be sure to check it out!

This has been the best first week ever! I’m Camp Counselor Janae, and I want to say thank you so much for joining us, and see you next week when we can earn our animal badges! See you soon!

[Music]

Bye!

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This version removes any informal language, ensures clarity, and maintains the essence of the original transcript.