Mercury Models!

This particular activity didn't exactly turn out as planned, but the boy's enjoyed it none the less, so I guess we'll call it a success.  We're studying the planets again this year along with lots of other fun earth and space science.  This week we learned about Mercury.  Since Haley was taking AGES to finish up her math, the boys and I did this particular activity without her. 

First, we mixed up a big batch of salt dough from a recipe in the textbook.  I suppose it should have been thicker and maybe it would've worked better.  We were supposed to have balls, but ours looked like blobs.  The dough was just too soft to hold the sphere shape needed for Mercury.  So, we considered it half of Mercury.

Then, once we had our Mercury model to work with, the boys proceeded to make craters of all depths and sizes to recreate the surface of  Mercury.  You may have noticed that they are in their pajamas...yes, that's a big perk of homeschooling.  They don't have to get dressed!  Nothing says school time like PJ's. 

The boys really had fun figuring out all kinds of objects to make different types of craters.  Pencils, crayons, and even odd shaped Legos were used.  We sat the models aside to dry for a few hours and to share with daddy when he came home.  As I said before, I obviously need more practice on salt dough, because the models dried on the outside, but stayed gooey inside.  We finally gave up and simply threw them away.