40 Interesting Moon Facts for Kids

One of the biggest sources of entertainment and knowledge that children have at their disposal is the sky and its various bodies.

Plenty of tales around the moon and its relationship with the sun and the stars have filled children’s minds with intrigue and interest in equal measure. Since they are at a very inquisitive age, it is important that parents and teachers of these children are able to generate their interest in science through teaching.

One of the best ways to entertain kids is to have little quizzes with them. A small quiz on moon info for kids is always a great way to pass the time while feeding them useful knowledge about the moon. Here are 40 interesting moon facts for kids that they will enjoy and appreciate:

History Of The Moon

1. One of the most important facts about the history of the moon is that it is the single and only natural satellite of the Earth. This is a primary source of moon information for kids which they must always know.
2. Also, the moon is around 4.5 billion years old and was formed more than 30 million years after the Earth was formed.
3. The moon was formed after a large celestial object collided with Earth and cut rocks off its surface. With time, these molten rocks orbited earth before fusing together in one big mass. These pieces then cooled off and formed a gigantic body known as the moon which continues to orbit the planet.
4. After around 500 million years since the moon was formed, there were many other pieces of rock which continued to collide with the Earth’s surface, but they never managed to form another satellite, which is why the moon is so unique.

Surface Of The Moon

1. The reason that the moon still has plenty of its original craters left is that it does not have any noticeable atmosphere or water on its surface. This means that whatever impact is made on its surface will continue to remain so. This is an important fact to know as moon research for kids.
2. The moon has its very own mountains, and the tallest one is the Mons Huygens, which is about 4,700 metres in height. For comparison, that is roughly around half the size of Mount Everest, which clocks 8,848 metres in height.
3. The moon’s surface has only around 1/6^th or 17% of the total gravitational strength of the Earth. This means that you weigh only 1/6^th of what you weigh on Earth.
4. Due to the lack of gravity on the surface of the moon, astronauts tend to leap and jump because they are not brought down as fast as when they are on Earth.
5. Kids will be able to see the surface of the moon with the help of binoculars.
6. They can also see the marks of damage that were caused due to the rocks hitting the moon’s surface millions of years ago along with scars, craters, lava plains, mountains, valleys and pits.
7. During the daytime, the temperatures are warm on the moon, and at night, it can go down to -153 degrees Celsius. Temperatures during the day can hit 107 degrees Celsius.
8. The dark patches that you can notice on the moon’s surface during the full moon stage are referred to as the seas that are actually just dark lava that has frozen.
9. The moon has plenty of Latin Names such as Mare serenitatis – Sea of Serenity and Mare Frigoris – Sea of Cold.

The First Man On The Moon

1. Interesting moon info for kids can revolve around the first man to ever go to its surface – Neil Armstrong. He was part of the 3-man crew aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft which achieved the first manned landing on its surface.
2. Neil Armstrong stepped out from his spacecraft which was known as the Eagle on the 21^st of July, 1969.
3. The first words that Neil Armstrong uttered as he placed his first steps on the surface were, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
4. The footprints that Armstrong along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins created on the moon’s surface will remain there for 10 million years or so as there is no erosion on the surface.

How Does The Moon Work?

1. The moon takes pretty much the same amount of time to rotate around its axis when compared to the time it takes to revolve the Earth.
2. It takes the moon roughly 27.3 days to orbit the Earth for one full revolution.
3. In around 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and 11.6 seconds, the moon goes around the Earth and comes back to its starting point.
4. The moon travels around the Earth at a speed of 2,228 miles per hour which translates to 3,683 km/hr.
5. The moon travels a total distance of 2,290,000 kilometres when it orbits the Earth.

Dark Side of the Moon

1. One fascination that children have is with the dark side of the moon, which is the side that they cannot see. As moon information for kids, you can explain that this side is also called the far side. We can see around 60% of the total surface area or around 50% of the entire moon.
2. The side that is covered is, however, illuminated just as much by the sun and cannot be seen as it rotates around the moon’s axis while it revolves around Earth.

Size of the Moon 

1. The moon’s diameter is around 2000 miles, which is around 3,376 kilometres. The surface is almost as big as the continent of Africa in terms of size.
2. The core of the moon is said to measure around 2% of the total mass of the moon.
3. The moon’s core roughly comes up to 420 miles which is around 680 kilometres in width.
4. The moon’s rocky mantle is around 825 miles or 1,330 kilometres thick.
5. The moon’s mass is around 7.35 x 10^22 kg which is around 1/80^th the Earth’s mass.

Other Scientific Facts about the Moon 

1. The moon’s mantle is made up of dense rocks that are rich in magnesium and iron content.
2. The speed of the moon’s revolution is different in different parts of its orbit. It moves slower when it is farthest from the Earth.
3. The path that the moon takes around the Earth is known as the ellipse.
4. The moon has no life on it as it doesn’t have an atmosphere.
5. The moon moves away from Earth every year at a distance of around 3.8 cm. It will continue to do so for 50 billion years, and this means that at that time, it will take 47 days to revolve around Earth.
6. The moon rotates in a West to East direction when it orbits the Earth.
7. There are different phases of the moon such as the new moon, crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, new moon, last quarter and many more.
8. When the Earth revolves around the sun, there are instances when it comes between the sun and the moon. This is called a lunar eclipse.
9. The brightly lit moon is because of light reflected from the sun which bounces off its surface onto the Earth. Without the sun, we would not have been able to see the moon.
10. The first person to make a map of the moon was a renowned scientist, Galileo. In 1609, he developed the telescope.
11. It ranks as the fifth largest moon in the entire solar system.

There you have it! You now have 40 interesting facts about the moon that you can share with your kids. Go through two a day, and they will have learnt all these in less than a month.