Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of our family’s favorite books.  I cannot count how many times we’ve read it.  We were MORE than excited to begin this row.

We printed our vocabulary cards from HomeschoolCreations Goodnight Moon Pack  and added them to our Sensory Story Box.

We began rowing this book in late October, so it quickly became an eclectic mix of pumpkins, moons, and nursery rhymes…really a “Harvest Moon” theme!  The kids LOVED it!  We even made a crazy Pumpkins in Space sensory bin to represent our fall row of this book!

Bible

Memory Verse Printable

For this row, we chose to memorize Psalm 127:2, “God gives rest to his loved ones”.  I created a Bible verse printable pack for this row.

You can grab your FREE copy at our TPT store.  Parker worked on his Bible verse all throughout this row.  While Parker worked on his Bible verse puzzle, the older kids completed their tracing page.

Courage Bible Lesson

Having courage was the perfect Kids of Integrity Bible lesson for this unit.  Goodnight Moon is such a comforting bedtime story, but nighttime can be a struggle for many kids.

Everyone feels scared sometimes and we need to know how to handle our fears.  This unit teaches children to focus on God rather than their fears.

Have Courage Wands

We kicked off our Bible unit with have courage wands.  I cut out cardboard stars and we wrote, “Have courage do not fear” on one side and “The Lord is with me.  Psalm 114:6” and the other side.

The kids painted their wands with glitter glue and set them aside to dry.

Once dry, we attached their stars to straws and glued on a green ribbon and a small red pom-pom on each end, symbolizing the “red balloon” in the “green room”.  They turned out totally adorable!

Snuff Out Fear

We used an object lesson with candles and an empty jar.  We created “FEAR” cards to place on our votive candles and the kids drew a “FOCUS ON GOD” eye to place on the mason jar.

We talked about fear, being afraid, and what happens when we feel scared.  We lit our candles and watched the flame.  When we focus on our fears, or whatever is making us feel afraid, our fear gets bigger like a fire.  The more we focus in it, the more fuel it adds to the flame.

Then we took our mason jars with our focus on God “eyes” and placed them over the candle.  We watched the flame go out and talked about how the same happens to our fears when we choose to focus on God instead of what’s scaring us.

This was a VERY effective object lesson.  We did this several times and each time was as great as the first!

Stories to Build Courage

We read several stories about feeling scared, building courage, and keeping our eyes on Jesus.

The Full Armor of God

Jordan was going to our church Harvest Festival as a soldier dressed in the full armor of God.  Studying that went right along with learning about having courage and trusting God.

I found a really cute Armor of God craft from http://www.orientaltrading.com.  The kids put their soldiers together while we read our book.

They turned out really cute.  It a great way for Jordan to learn all the various parts of the armor of God and what they stand for.  He was all set for the Harvest Festival.

Nursery Rhymes

There are so many references to nursery rhymes in the book.  We tried to incorporate a few while rowing Goodnight Moon.

Kittens & Mittens

We couldn’t study Goodnight Moon without at least reading about the kittens who lost their mittens.  There are so many versions, but we chose to read Three%20Little Kittens (Folk Tale Classics)Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone.

Kitten’s First Full Moon

We started our kitten themed day with a phases of the moon breakfast (mini pancakes with Nutella shading the main moon phases, and a bowl of greek yogurt as kitty’s milk and bananas for nutritional value).

The kids gobbled their breakfast while watching the animated version on Epic.

I set up a special Kitten’s%20First Full Moon Board BookKitten’s First Full Moon craftivity to do after breakfast.  I prepped all the constructions paper pieces, foam letters, and art supplies and placed them on the table.

The kids glued the moon pieces to a Phases of the Moon printable I found, printed at half the size.  They glued this chart to half a sheet of pink construction paper.

They glued on the kitten and moon, decorated with some glitter glue, drew a face on the cat, and added their foam letters.

They turned out really adorable!  I love when a craft is MORE than just a fun activity….this was science and art!

The kids continued their kitten themed day with a special cat lunch while working on their worksheets, and watching our Goodnight Moon playlist.

We also read several adorable kitten picture books throughout the day.

Missing Mittens

In honor of the little kittens missing their mittens, we read several mitten themed picture books.

We also added a mitten game and our clothesline activity, from Jesse Bear, to Learning Lane.

Humpty Dumpty

We decided to include Humpty Dumpty while rowing Goodnight Moon.  This has been Jordan’s favorite nursery rhyme since he was a baby.

We started our morning with a Humpty Dumpty breakfast of cream cheese, peanut butter, and Nutella toast with fruit strips and turkey sausage.  The kids LOVED this themed breakfast!

We read our Humpty Dumpty poster from the Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s Mother Goose Early Learning Pack.

We included several Humpty Dumpty themed worksheets and activities in Learning Lane.

After breakfast, the kids built a wall for our Humpty Dumpty Science activity by I Heart Crafty Things.

The kids had to choose three ways to keep their eggs from cracking after falling from the wall.  They were so cute as they put on their thinking caps and got to work prepping Humpty 🙂

They each took turns dropping their eggs from the wall and checking for cracks in “Humpty”.  It was a great science activity!

Language Arts

Letter Formation

Parker worked on building his letters and tracing his alphabet cards.

Phonics

I created a Goodnight Moon phonics worksheet for Parker to use while rowing this book.

Parker worked on the phonics activity several times during this unit.  He matched the pictures with the cut out uppercase letters as well as our magnet lowercase letters.

Reading

Parker continued to work on his reading skills throughout this unit.

He built his CVC words using fun nursery rhyme mats.

We found a Goodnight Moon bottle cap activity and a matching mat that gave him fun ways to read and match images from the story.

Creative Writing

I created a Goodnight Moon craftivity.  I set out the craft supplies the night before.

First, the kids created their window and curtains in the “great green room”.

Next, they added details to their curtains.

Then they added “Goodnight Moon” in foam letters and embellished their night sky.

They turned out so pretty!

Math

Goodnight Moon Math

I created several Goodnight Moon math activities for this row.  You can download them from our TPT store here.

I created a Goodnight Moon graphing printable for the kids to work on.  I set out a copy for each of them with a laminated dice.

The kids worked on their graphing pack that morning after breakfast.

I also created a sorting activity that Parker worked on in Learning Lane.  He sorted small, medium, and large Goodnight Moon objects using the sorting mat.

Parker completed the patterns and identified each pattern type.

I created some other “math games”: sudoku, which one is different, and shadow match.

Whether I laminate them and put them in our Learning Lane or add them to their BFIAR packets, the kids enjoy working on these!

He also worked on various counting activities.

Parker also worked on number recognition, ordering, sequencing, and skip counting activities.

Science

The Moon

We couldn’t row Goodnight Moon without learning about our nighttime friend, the moon.

While studying Kitten’s First Full Moon, we read The Moon: Revised Edition (Out in Space)The Moon by Martha E. H. Rustad and talked about the various phases of the moon.

We also read a few fun books about the moon then Parker and I went to the kitchen to make our own “moon cake”.  Later in the day, Haley and Jordan made their own “moon cake”.

The kids measured their ingredients directly in the baking pan.

They mixed the ingredients and we placed it in the oven to bake.

I dusted the cake with powdered sugar and used a spoon to rub circles on the top to mimic the surface of the moon.  It was delicious (although I don’t have pics of the kiddos enjoying it).

Pumpkins

Since we were rowing Goodnight Moon in October, many of our science activities centered around pumpkins.

Life Cycle

We read about pumpkins in the fall and went outside to explore our vegetable garden.

This year we were lucky enough to have a late growing vine so the kids were able to see each stage of the pumpkin life cycle.

We came inside and had a special pumpkin life cycle treat.  I baked some brownies earlier.  I gave each child a brownie with a green squiggle of frosting and a cup of candy corn, gummies, and candy pumpkins.  Each kid made their own pumpkin patch.

We read about the life cycle of the pumpkin, brought out our beautiful pumpkin life cycle cards from The Helpful Garden, and matched the stages of the pumpkin life cycle on Learning Lane.

Parker also worked on a fun science activity at the end of our From Seed to Pumpkin (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) book that showed how plants drink water from the soil.

The kids also put together a life cycle of a pumpkin craft.  I cut out a construction paper pumpkin, printed out a sheet of cut out life cycle pictures, and presented them to the kids.

The kids colored and cut out the circles and glued them to a string that hung from the construction paper pumpkins.

Pumpkin Exploration

We couldn’t study pumpkins without getting our hands covered in muck.  I laid out a sugar pumpkin for each kid and a pumpkin exploration worksheet.

First the kids measured their pumpkins with cubes and a tape measure.

Next, they tested to see whether their pumpkins would sink or float.

Then they estimated, weighed, and measured some more.

Lastly, I cut them open and they explored the scent, texture, and contents of our little fruits.

After they were done exploring, I cut up the sugar pumpkins, saved some of the main parts, and baked them with a little butter and cinnamon.

Parts of the Pumpkin

I brought out the parts of the pumpkin I saved from the previous pumpkin exploration activity and Parker worked on identifying and labeling each.

He also worked on a felt pumpkin activity in Learning Lane.  He put the pumpkin together, piece by piece, and labeled each one.

Lastly, the kids worked on their parts of the pumpkin booklet by using their Melissa & Doug Wooden Alphabet Stamp Set to spell each part and color it in.

Arts, Crafts, & Treats

Harvest Moon Craftivity

We happened upon By%20the Light of the Harvest MoonBy the Light of the Harvest Moon on Epic.  This adorable picture book tied our Goodnight Moon and Autumn themes perfectly.  It was a whimsical story and provided a perfect opportunity for a creative writing craft.

I gave each child a sheet of blue construction paper, a round orange “moon”, and I laid out the “leaf people” craft supplies in the center of the table.  The kids got straight to work selecting, cutting, and pasting their leaf people together.

I gave each of them a creative writing prompt to complete a story about their leaf person.  Once complete, they used foam letters to spell out the book title.  They turned out adorable!

Crazy Watercolor Cats

While studying kittens, I set out an cat themed art project.  They sketched their cats and painted them with watercolors.

Baking Pumpkin Pies

We started this activity by reading From%20Pumpkin to Pie (Start to Finish, Second Series)From Pumpkin to Pie.  I pureed our baked sugar pumpkins ahead of time and set out all the other ingredients with sticky notes so the kids knew how much to measure.

The kids measured all the ingredients to prepare the pie filling and we set it aside.

I gave each kid a glass ramekin and some prepared pie dough.  They prepared their crusts.

They poured some filling into their pie shells.

We placed them into the oven and baked them.

They baked to perfection and were tasty little treats!  Hats off to the chefs 🙂

Harvest Festival

Just for fun, I thought I would add some pics of the kids going to the Church Harvest Festival as a Monarch Butterfly, a puppy, and a soldier in the full armor of God!

Looking forward to our next book!

Helpful Resources

Most of the activities and printables can be found on our Goodnight Moon Pinterest board.

For many great read alouds, songs, and other complimentary videos, watch our Goodnight Moon playlist on youtube.

For many great Goodnight Moon printables, visit our TPT store.