Buy 7-inch Styrofoam balls to make models of the moon. Show your class pictures of the moon's surface, pointing out craters. Let the children observe the smooth surface of the foam balls, and ask them to compare the surface of the balls to the pictures of the moon's surface. When class members offer the suggestion that the moon is "bumpier" or has "dips" on it, pass 2-inch squares of sandpaper to each child so he can rub it onto areas of the foam ball to create indentations in the ball's surface. When the children have finished making "craters" on their balls, brush away and discard the flecks of Styrofoam they rubbed from their balls. Cover the children's work surface with newspaper and pass gray tempera paint and brushes to paint the balls. Painting a round object is challenging, so be prepared with paper towels to wipe paint from little artists' fingers as they work. Stick three toothpicks in the bottom of each painted moon, "tripod-style," and set the suspended crafts on newspaper to dry.
Read the book Goodnight Moon by Margret Wise Brown to your class. Check with your local children's librarian if you need to borrow a copy of the book. Goodnight Moon is a classic children's story in which the moon, along with other special objects in a child's bedroom, are told "goodnight" before a child goes to sleep. Make a collage that depicts the moon in the story along with beloved items from the lives of the members of your preschool class. Before class, cut a variety of pictures from magazines of things in a child's world. Choose pictures of toys, bedroom furniture and clothes that children wear. Find pictures that depict playgrounds and other children's favorite places . Cut a 26-inch diameter or larger "moon-shape" from light blue construction paper for each child. Let the class choose pictures of favorite things to glue to the moon with glue sticks.
Make a moon painting with paint mixed from glue, shaving cream and a squirt of gray tempera paint. Before class, Mix 2 cups of white, liquid glue and 2 cups of any type of foam shaving cream with an electric blender. Mix the glue and shaving cream for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 tsp. gray tempera paint to the mix and blend for a minute more. Scoop blobs of the paint onto paper plates and pass the paint-filled plates and brushes to your class. Give each child a piece of 9-inch by 12-inch black construction paper. Let the children paint a circular moon with the thick paint onto the black paper. When the paintings dry, the paint will have hardened into a puffy, bumpy circle that resembles the surface of the moon.