Six Early Childhood Education Centres were visited from the 16th to the 19th of July. During that time 155 children between the ages of 4 to 6 years were engaged in activities linked to an aspect
of astronomy.
These activities allowed the young children to dig deep into their pre or existing knowledge and ask questions linked to the moon. The young children engaged in several different activities in order to stimulate their
awareness and understanding. Each of the activities was linked to the story, The Moon, Hare and Tortoise. The activities enhanced their understanding of the moon and gave the young children the opportunity to explore a foreign concept through play and observation. Every child at the end of the lesson was able to
verbalise something new they had learnt through drawings or answering or asking questions.
Thus the illusion that astronomy is a difficult concept to communicate or understand was diffused.
The children were able to demonstrate that astronomical knowledge can be acquired through different activities; however the key is the use of stories to capture their imagination and build a foundation for their knowledge.
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