Learning about the solar system using a lapbook

Little Miss Green is interested in the solar system so we’ve started a lapbook.

We love making lapbooks because they turn the ‘ordinary’ into a work of art. Little Miss Green is artistic and loves nothing more than to illustrate her work. She gets frustrated at school when she is ‘not allowed’ to draw because the emphasis is on getting the words down, so a lapbook allows her to express her creativity while learning at the same time.

In case you’re wondering what a lapbook is, it’s a series of mini books which you create and then put inside a big folder. Each mini book focuses on one aspect of your project which is a great way for breaking down a huge topic and provides a useful life skill – how many adults struggle to begin a project because of overwhelm and the inability to break it down into manageable chunks?!

The term ‘lapbook’ comes from the fact that the folders are large and fold out so you need to rest it on your lap to read it!

We’re using just one book for reference which is “The Young Astronomer” – a Dorling Kindersley publication.

So far, after getting dressed up as an astronaut (well almost; she looked more dressed for the dessert to me!)

We’ve cut up some mini books ready for the project:

Little Miss Green’s favourite planet is Venus, so she’s made a tiny introduction to Venus:

And I sent her on a mission into space to gather objects which could illustrate the relative sizes of the planets. Can you guess which is which?

Little Miss Green was enthralled to learn that relative to these sizes, the sun would be the size of her trampoline!

What about you – have you ever used lapbooks for home education?