Oreo Cookie Moon Phases

Any science activity that involves food is exciting for the kids. And for the moon phase activity, we are using one of kids’ favorite food out there – Oreos! So

In this edible astronomy activity, you will recreate the different shapes of the Moon with yummy cookie sandwiches. 

The best part? After you finish with the STEM activity, you get to eat it all!

Oreo Moon Phases Activity

Materials:

• Oreo cookies
• A kid-friendly knife or popsicle stick
• Paper plate or the free moon phase worksheet

Instructions:

1. Separate 8 Oreo cookies by slowly twisting the top and bottom cookies. Set the cookies without frosting aside (or eat them!)
2. Use the knife or popsicle stick, carefully scrape off a portion of the frosting to recreate each moon phase.
3. Place the Oreo cookies on a paper plate the free moon phase worksheet in the correct order. I like to start off with the New Moon and go counterclockwise from there.

For younger kids, you may want to help draw a line in the frosting so they know exactly how much to scrape off. For older kids, they can form the moon phases from memory or by looking at the diagram at the top of the worksheet. 

I think the Oreo moon phase activity might have been my kids’ favorite STEM activity yet! Not surprising though, this is the first time they ever tried Oreo cookies!

And of course, also not a surprise, they want to do recreate the moon phases again and again after they polished off the first set!

The Different Phases of the Moon

Here are the different moon phases for you to go over with your kid:

NEW MOON: When the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, the moon blocks the light from the Sun. Therefore, no part of the moon is visible from Earth.

WAXING CRESCENT: As the Moon continues to orbit Earth, it becomes visible again. This is called the waxing moon (waxing means that it’s getting bigger), and the initial phase is called the Waxing Crescent. The waxing moon gets bigger every night until it reaches the First Quarter when we can see half of the Moon.

FIRST QUARTER: Half of the lit portion of the Moon is lit by the sun.

WAXING GIBBOUS: “Gibbous” means that more than half of the Moon is visible but not the entire circle.

FULL MOON: When the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, half of the Moon is lit. From Earth, we can see the full circle

WANING GIBBOUS: More than half of the Moon is visible and the lit portion gets smaller every day. 

THIRD QUARTER: The opposite half of the Moon is lit compared to the First Quarter Moon.

WANING CRESCENT: Less than half of the Moon is visible and slowly decreases to the New Moon.

I hope your kids loved this yummy Oreo moon phase project! For more out of this world activities, check out:

• DIY Moon Rock
• Making Moon Crater Activity
• LEGO Moon Phases Science Activity

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