Moon Shapes

• Show preschoolers how the moon changes shape depending on where it is in conjunction with the Earth and sun. When the entire face of the moon is lit, represent it with a round kiwi fruit or whole apple. If the moon is in crescent form, cut an apple or pear to represent it. To show the moon orbiting Earth, use a whole apple to represent Earth and a grape or pea to represent the moon. Allow children to make the pea orbit the apple.

Solar System

• Lay out an entire solar system with fruit and vegetables. Select very large food items like watermelons for Saturn and Jupiter. Use cantaloupes for Uranus and Neptune. Use large apples for Earth and Venus, a plum for Mars and a cherry tomato for Mercury. If you choose to include Pluto, use a pea. The order of the planets, beginning with the one closest to the sun, is: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Use additional peas to show students how many moons each planet has; for example, Jupiter has 63.

Rocket Ships

• Making rocket ships can be an in-class activity. Give preschoolers celery sticks to act as the rocket ship body. Stick raisins to the ship using peanut butter (or a nut-alternative) to represent the astronauts inside. Place shredded carrots at the bottom of the rocket to represent the flames that come out when it is launching. Allow students to fly their rockets and take trips to the imaginary moon before they eat them.

Stars

• Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut cheese wedges in the shape of stars, or use the same cutter to create star-shaped sandwiches. As an activity, children can arrange the stars on their plates around an "Earth" made of an apple. Explain to children that stars are balls of gas. The gas emits nuclear energy in the form of light, which children can best understand as fire. Place carrot shreds around the star-shaped cheese to demonstrate the fire.