Connect a piece of string to a large paper clip. Roll the contents of one can of yellow Play-Doh around the paper clip and string into a ball that is 7.3 centimeters in diameter. Use a thumbtack to hang the sun in the center of your model. The star at the center of this solar system is a yellow dwarf and it is the largest structure in the solar system. Create models for the planets in rough relative size to the sun and hang them according to an approximate scale distance from the sun. Use a string in the middle of each planet ball to hang the planet in your model and thumbtack them to the ceiling.
Use a .4 millimeter ball of grey Play-Doh for Mercury. Hang it three millimeters from the sun. Mercury lies 36 million miles from the sun.
Form a blend of tan and white Play-Doh into .67 millimeters ball for Venus. Hang Venus 6.5 millimeters from the sun. Venus lies 67 million miles from the sun. Venus is the planet closest in size to the Earth.
Create a .67 millimeter blue and white Play-Doh ball for the Earth and hang it approximately 7.75 millimeters from the sun. The Earth occupies a space approximately 97 million miles from the sun. The sun is 109 times the size of the earth.
Form Mars from red Play-Doh in recognition of its red color. Make the ball .35 millimeters in diameter and hang it 12 millimeters from the sun. Mars lies 142 million miles from the sun and is 15 percent of the Earth’s mass.
Form Jupiter from a blend of tan and white Play-Doh and add a red spot on the planet surface to represent its storm. Create the ball 7.54 millimeters in diameter and hang it four centimeters from the sun. Jupiter is the second largest planet in the solar system and lies 483 million miles from the sun.
Create Saturn from tan Play-Doh and form its rings out of very thin grey Play-Doh. Use pins to connect the rings to the 6.23 millimeter ball. Hang it 7.5 centimeters from the sun. Saturn lies 888 million miles from the sun.
Form a 2.75 millimeter pale blue ball for Uranus and hang it 15 centimeters from the sun. Hang the planet on its side. It lies 1,784 miles from the sun.
Create a 2.6 millimeter blue ball for Neptune and form a small, thin grey band to extend from the equator for the rings. Hang it 23.7 centimeters from the sun. It lies almost 2,800 million miles from the sun.