The moon is one of nature's most beautiful and accessible cycles to follow and observe with children. You can dive to great depths on the topic, but an easy place to start is with a moon phase wheel where children can see the moon moving through its cycle with each illustrated phase.
We were inspired to construct our own moon phase wheel by the lovely Abbey at Wild Wattle Folk, she has a Moon Phase Tracker tutorial on her blog if you wish to make your own from scratch. Otherwise, I have a printable version of the galaxy wheel below that is available for instant download. We love to include the moon phase wheel in our moon lessons and discussions. The children love that it's a hands-on tool. We often take it on our evening walks, especially on a bright full moon walk, and they reference the real moon in the sky with the moon on the wheel with the greatest sense of wonder! "Each night the moon kisses secretly the lover who counts the stars." - Rumi.
In particular, we honour the new moon and full moon phases as they are potent moments for setting intentions and releasing what no longer serves us. (I can go quite deep into this but that's for another time!)
There's also the gardening aspect to the moon (and the sun), where through observing each phase we can be in sync with optimal plant growth and garden management. A wonderful website to learn more about this is Gardening by the Moon. It tells us that on the new moon, the lunar gravity pulls water up and causes seeds to swell and burst. This factor, coupled with the increasing moonlight creates balanced root and leaf growth. The first quarter is the best time for planting above ground bearing annual crops that produce their seeds outside the fruit, such as lettuce, spinach, celery, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower. and grain crops. On the full moon, the gravitational pull is even higher, creating more moisture in the soil, but the moonlight is decreasing, putting energy into the roots, so the full moon is a favourable time for planting root crops such as beetroot and carrots. It is also good for perennials, bulbs and transplanting because of the active root growth. There is so much to learn and discover about moon.
Do you like to follow the moon too?
My Moon Phase Wheel is available as a printable with full assembly instructions, making it simple for you to get started.
Happy moon gazing!
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AuthorI am a free-spirited homeschooling mama who finds great inspiration, beauty and meaning in nature. Archives
March 2019
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