After discussing what the moon phases are and how they appear in relation to the sun and Earth, give the children four chocolate cream-filled cookies each. Have them open the cookies with cream filling side on one half of the cookie. Tell them to remove part of the filling from each of the cookies to represent the four basic phases of the moon. Once they have completed the exercise, they can eat the cookies.
At the beginning of the month, give each child a copy of that month's calendar on a full sheet of paper, with plenty of room in the squares representing each day of the month. Every night, including weekend nights, have them look outside at the moon and draw what they see onto that night's space on the calendar. Have them bring the calendar back in at the end of the month so you can see their work. Have them make a note on any nights that they could not see the moon, such as overcast skies, rain or even a lunar eclipse.
Place a large light in the center of the room, such as a floor lamp without a lampshade. Get a large white foam ball and place it on the end of a large pencil or wooden dowel. Have the children stand in a circle around the light a few feet away from the light. Turn off the overhead light so that the lamplight is the only one that is on. Explain to the children that they represent the Earth in this exercise. Go up to each child and walk around them -- have them follow you as you do -- and ask them what amount of light they see on the foam ball and what it means in terms of the moon's phases. Repeat for each child.
Have the students create a mobile out of paper plates, paper clips, a wire hanger and string. Give each student four or five paper plates and have them cut out the phases of the moon, They can either create the four basic shapes (full, gibbous, quarter and crescent) or all eight (including new, which would be either nothing or a black colored plate, both crescents, both quarters and both gibbous phases). Have them attach paper clips to the paper plates, then string to the paper clips. Finally, have them arrange the paper plate cutouts in order onto a wire hanger that has been reshaped into a circle.