Moon Phases : Nasa Kid's Club and The Moon

It seems that we all teach the phases of the moon  to engage children with the natural cycles of the earth.  For many of us it can be a challenge to help the children understand all of these concepts especially since many of these ideas are not concrete yet in the children's minds.  We have our children do a moon phase calendar and one of the first lessons we do is:  Your Moon is My Moon.  The children need to understand that we all see the same moon.  It is always entertaining when the kids first start doing the calendars and we begin to compare the various drawings.  When I gently point out to that little honey that he cannot see a crescent moon when the rest of us saw a full moon...and then he finally says, "Well my Mama said it was a crescent moon!" I have to smile.  We talk over and over about looking outside and actually looking at the moon! Most do their calendar but every once in awhile some honey will say we just looked at the computer I think how sad for that one.  For our children to find their place in the world they really need to be in tune with the world they live in.  Along with getting the children outside to look at the moon I also use NASA Kids' Club for enrichment and meeting technology standards.  There are many games at the NASA Kids' Club site featuring a lot of familiar characters such as Buzz Lightyear
and Elmo.  There is also a Name that Asteriod game. These activities are very engaging and I feel sure that everyone will enjoy them.  I also found this excellent article by Astronomer Cathy Imhoff  The Moon | Scholastic.com 
to help teachers with facts about the moon.