Learning about the Moon | Making Moon Bread

Today, the kids and I made moon bread.  But the lesson was so much deeper than just whipping the bread together (which you can see in the video). It was learning facts about the moon, reading stories of moon celebrations around the world, and then sitting down at the family table to eat our moon bread and share about the things we had just learned.

This lesson may look simple, but it connects science, literacy, and life skills all into one!

Amazon affiliate links are used to books and products in this post.

Learning about the Moon and Making Moon Bread:

Quick facts to share with your kids about the moon:

Although the moon appears white, it’s surface is actually dark, similar in color to asphalt.

Some of the uneven surfaces on the moon are called craters. “Craters formed when asteroids and comets collide with the lunar surface.”

“The moon (or Luna) is the Earth’s only natural satellite and was formed 4.6 billion years ago.” That’s a LONG time ago.

“The Moon is a little more than one-fourth the size of Earth.”

Learning about the Moon through Literature (prior to making Moon Bread!)

We have been enjoying the book,A Full Moon is Rising for the past week. It is a collection of poems by Marilyn Singer all about moons and how people celebrate and see them all around the world. I love that it showed the moon in all sorts of places from the desert to the International Space Station where they can see the moon rising not once – but 3 times each day!  My preschooler really liked the “Wolf Moon” poem – because it’s cool!  They loved re-reading the noises with me.

“Woo-ah!
The real wolves warn in the silvery woods”

A special thanks to Lee and Low publishing for sending us a fabulous diverse collection of books about the moon and helping us to diversify our home library in an effort to raise globally aware children.!

For even more Moon Picture Books, Poems, and Stories, we have been reading:

  

From the Bellybutton of the Moon: And Other Summer Poems / Del Ombligo de la Luna: Y Otros Poemas de Verano (The Magical Cycle of the Seasons Series)

Directions to Make Moon Bread.

Take the internal part of your bread machine out.

Measure the ingredients and place them in the removed pan of the bread machine. This will keep the insides of your bread machine cleaner. Add the ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order recommended by your bread machine manufacture. We put them in the order listed.  Do not add the last 2 tablespoons of oil.  My kids like to make a volcano with the flour and pour the yeast in the middle.

Place the container back inside the bread machine. Close the lid and set the program for dough. manual. My program takes a little over 1 1/2 hours to complete. We often take it out early as it will rise again after shaping.

Remove the dough from the bread machine and place on a large greased cookie sheet. Gently pat into a circle. Cover with a light cotton cloth. Let rise for an additional 45 minutes. The bread should almost double in size.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the cover and poke your finger in a downward motion to make the moon’s craters. Use a pastry brush to lightly cover the surface with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.

Bake 15-18 minutes. It will be golden brown on the edges and sound hollow when removed from the pan and tapped on the bottom.

More SPACE themed activities from the #PLAYfulPreschool Education Team:

My Space Book by Powerful Mothering
Word Family Rocket Landings by Rainy Day Mum
Space Science Experiments: Venus and Neptune by Learning 2 Walk
Jupiter’s Moons-Counting by 5’s by Capri + 3
Counting & Matching Star Activities for Preschoolers by Life Over C’s
Rocket Pizzas by Growing Book by Book
Learning about the Moon | Making Moon Bread: by The Educators’ Spin On It
Solar system sun catchers by Fun-A-Day!
Space Scene Play Mat by Mom Inspired Life