Hellobee Boards

Since you guys have flown long haul, what if you used the globe to explain how far away it is?

How long does it take to get there by space shuttle?

My daughter gets excited that the moon "follows" her around. So he says hi to it and asks if she can touch it. I just tell her that it's really far away. She's just 2 so a simple reply seems to be okay with her for now.

@mrbee: it let's you pan the moon, zoom in and out, move it around. It's simple but kind of cool!

We have another app that does the same, but for the earth. I'll get you the names!

My LO is really interested in the moon and space too. We recently had to explain a bit further how the earth moon and the sun shift so she could better understand the rising and setting.

Right now she just knows astronauts go to the moon, in their space shuttle to collect moon rocks.

LO is into space, so we've looked at a lot of books/media on the subject. I like Gail Gibbons' "The Moon Book". The concepts of rotation and orbit are pretty easy to demonstrate with physical activities, and LO seems to really enjoy those explanations.

Just one thing to point out: humans have only ever gone to the moon in a rocket (the Apollo missions used Saturn V rockets). The space shuttles never had the range to get there, so they only went into orbit of the Earth. It took the Apollo 11 mission somewhere in the vicinity of 3-4 days to get to the Moon, if I remember correctly.

Another thing that toddlers seem to like to know is that the Moon and the Earth have "locked" rotations. That's the reason that there is a far side of the Moon and we only see one side: the Moon's rotation has synchronized with the Earth's so that the near side is always facing us. Other moons in the solar system generally do this with their planets too. Wikipedia has an animation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_rotation .

@honeybear: Thanks for that clarification , I had no idea! i learned something today!

@honeybear: I've thought about getting this book for my DD who asks about the moon all the time! Adding it to our wish list...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Moon-Book-Deborah-Short/dp/0823413640

I thought this one looked really good too: http://www.amazon.com/Seems-Change-Lets-Read-Find-Out-Science/dp/0064450651/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Maybe you could also take Charlie to a space museum? I think the Intrepid museum in NY has space stuff, but not sure... I know it has a shuttle at least.

@T-Mom: I like both of those book ideas. I've read the former, and I have a couple books from the same series as the latter, and I like them.