Free printable space worksheets
Four pages of the book: sort what you see in the day sky from the night sky (activity 1), number a sunny day turning rainy (activity 21), join the seven stars of the Big Dipper in the places they really are (activity 70), and circle the bigger of Earth and its Moon, drawn at their real relative size (activity 88). Each page carries our mark and this address where the book prints its page number, and is otherwise the page as printed.
US Letter · 4 pages · black and white · no signup
What is on the sheets
Print at actual size (100%), not "fit to page". The target sizes on these pages are chosen for a particular age of hand, and scaling shrinks them.
Using them well
Go outside first
Look at the actual sky, then find it on the sheet. Every page in this book is better after the real thing.
Name it, find it, then recall it
Point and say "this is the Big Dipper." Later, "show me the Big Dipper." Later still, "which one is this?" Three steps, not one.
It is fine not to finish
Four sheets is four sittings for a four-year-old.
Questions
Is the Big Dipper drawn right?
Yes. The seven dots are where the seven stars really are, the tail and back of the Great Bear, and the sheet says so. Join 1 to 7, then 7 back to 4 to close the cup, and go out and find it that night.
What ages are these worksheets for?
Four to six. The day-and-night sorting page suits a four-year-old. The storm in order and the Big Dipper are five. Earth and its Moon at true relative size is for five and six, and the question under it, a little bigger or a lot bigger, is the harder one.
Does my child need to read?
No. Every instruction is an icon first, and the sentence under it is for the adult. Labels like Earth and the Moon are how the vocabulary gets learned.
Do I need to sign up or pay?
No. One PDF, four pages, no email address. They are activities 1, 21, 70 and 88 of the book, pages 7, 28, 83 and 102, made by the same build that makes the book. The eight planets lined up at true relative size are on the planets worksheets set.
Guides that go with these
Teaching the solar system to a 4–6 year old, accurately
Young children can handle accurate astronomy. What they cannot undo easily is a misconception learned at five.
Choosing a bookWhich activity book for which age: 3, 4, 5 and 6
The maze book lists from three. The others list from four. Here is what sits inside those ranges: the book for each age, the page to open it at, and the sign that says move up.
For grown-upsHow to sit beside a child doing a worksheet
The most challenging part of an activity book is not on the page. It is sitting there while a four-year-old gets it wrong.
How we make themWhy our activity books are printed in black and white
The research behind it, the one finding that argues against it, and what the child gets in return.
Where these came from
These are 4 pages out of 100.
Day and night, weather, land and water, living things, the moon and stars, and the eight planets, drawn accurately. Eight planets, correct order, true relative scale on the line-up, current NASA naming, and Pluto named as a dwarf planet where it appears at all. A four-year-old cannot check this. A seven-year-old can.
