Our Solar System! Round and Round the Sun

2 min Magic Box hook

Shake the box, hold it to your ear. Whole class chants:

Peek in. Gasp. Lift out the yellow ball with both hands, high above your head, and switch the torch on behind it.

Everyone fans their face. “Hot!”

4 min Teach · Sun, hot, round

Set the sun down on the black cloth in the middle of the circle. Say and do each line three times, getting faster:

Littles say the one word and do the gesture — “Sun!”, “Hot!”, “Round!”. Bigs give the whole frame: “The sun is hot.”

Teacher fails: pick up the ice pack, hold it like the sun and say “Mmm, the sun is nice and cold.” Wait. Let them fix you twice — the correction shout is the loudest English of the day.

3 min Song · Round and Round — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. Sing it twice.

3 min Game · Hot or Cold?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Bring out the warm water bottle and the ice pack. Pass them round the circle in opposite directions while everyone chants “Hot or cold? Hot or cold?”

“Hot!”  Bigs: “The bottle is hot, like the sun.”

Every few passes, point at the yellow sun on the cloth and ask “And the sun?” — the whole class fans and shouts “HOT!”

Littles who won't speak still choose — they fan their face or shiver. That is the answer; accept it and cheer it. The bottle and the ice pack go straight onto Tray 2 this afternoon.

1 min Close

Everyone puts both hands up like a sun, whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Sun Is My Favorite Star (Frank Asch) — don't read it, do it. Every page, the class turns their face up to the sun and smiles.

2 min Magic Box hook

Shake the box, hold it to your ear. Whole class chants:

Peek in. Gasp. Lift out the globe and hold it against your chest like something precious.

Everyone points at the floor. “Earth!”

4 min Teach · Earth is my home

Turn the globe as you chant. Every child copies the gesture:

Now set Earth on the black cloth, a little way from the sun, and walk it one slow lap round. “Round and round!”

Littles: one word plus the hug — “Earth!”. Bigs: “Earth is my home.”

Teacher fails: hold up the globe and announce “This is the sun!” with total confidence. Let them shout you down, then look amazed and say it properly.

3 min Song · Round and Round — chorus + Tuesday verse

Sing the chorus, then the verse, then the chorus again. Same shape every single day — that repetition is the lesson.

3 min Game · Pass the Earth

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Sit in a tight circle. Pass the globe hand to hand while the class sings the chorus. You stop the singing whenever you like — whoever is holding Earth stands up and says their line.

“Earth!”  Bigs: “Earth is my home.”

That child then gets to be the one who walks Earth one lap round the sun before passing it on.

Pass with two hands and say “careful — it's our home” every time. They will start saying it to each other, and the globe goes onto Tray 1 looking after itself.

1 min Close

Everyone hugs themselves, whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Here We Are (Oliver Jeffers) — read only the two Earth pages, then close it. Short and enormous.

2 min Magic Box hook

Shake the box, hold it to your ear. Whole class chants:

Peek in. Whisper this time — the moon is a quiet thing. Lift out the cratered white ball.

Whispered back, all together: “Moon!”

4 min Teach · The moon comes at night

Now the comparison, sun in one hand, moon in the other, three times fast:

“Hot! Cold!”  Bigs: “The moon is round and cold.”

Set the moon on the cloth and walk it one lap round Earth — not round the sun. Littles just say “Moon!” and spin.

Teacher fails: hold the moon up and say “Careful — it's HOT!” and pretend to burn your fingers. They will love telling you it's cold.

3 min Song · Round and Round — chorus + Wednesday verse

Wednesday's verse starts on Am — the sad little moon chord. Play it once on its own first and ask “happy or sleepy?” They hear it instantly.

3 min Game · Day and Night

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Lights on is day; lights off with the torch is night.

“Sun!” — everyone stands, stretches tall and wiggles.

“Moon!” — everyone curls up on the floor and snores. Bigs whisper: “The moon comes at night.”

Speed it up. Day, night, day-night-day-night. Finish on night, whispering.

This is the fastest way to calm the wildest circle you will ever have — end on night and they are already quiet for the close.

1 min Close

Still curled up, whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (Eric Carle) — open the big fold-out page slowly and say nothing at all.

2 min Magic Box hook

Shake the box, hold it to your ear. Whole class chants:

Tip out the peppercorn — one tiny thing. Look disappointed. Then heave the watermelon out from behind your back with a groan.

Everyone makes a tiny circle with two fingers, then a huge one with both arms. “Small! BIG!”

4 min Teach · Every planet is round

Hand one fruit to each of six children. One at a time they bring it to the cloth and place it in a line beside the sun, smallest nearest you:

Point along the line: “Planet. Planet. Planet. Planet.” Littles chorus “Round!” on each one. Bigs: “The planet is big.” · “The planet is small.”

Teacher fails: put the watermelon at the small end and the peppercorn at the big end. Stand back and admire it. They will physically get up and fix it — let them.

3 min Song · Round and Round — chorus + Thursday verse

Don't teach the eight planet names — that is not this week's job. “Eight” and “round” are plenty.

3 min Game · The planet parade

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Six children each carry one fruit planet. The rest of the class are the judges and chant “Small to big! Small to big!” while the six shuffle themselves into a line by size.

“YES!”  or  “NO!” — and the judges point at who must swap.

Then the parade walks one slow lap round the yellow sun while everyone sings the chorus. Swap the six and run it again.

The whole line-up moves straight onto Tray 3 this afternoon with balls or pom-poms instead of fruit — the fruit becomes snack.

1 min Close

Everyone holding a circle shape in the air, whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Me and My Place in Space (Joan Sweeney) — show the pictures, name only sun, Earth and moon, skip the rest.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box sits on the cloth, empty and open. Chant anyway:

Point at each one and let them name it, fast: “Sun!” “Earth!” “Moon!” “Planet!”

4 min Teach · Quick-fire review

Hold each object up, one second each, round and round the circle until it's a game:

Littles need only the shout and the gesture. Bigs, one each, get a full sentence: “The sun is hot.” · “The moon is round.” · “Earth is my home.”

Teacher fails: ask “Moon — hot or cold?” and answer it yourself with a confident “HOT!”. By Friday they will correct you before you finish the word.

3 min Song · Round and Round — the whole song, top to bottom

Friday's finale is the review. Five verses, five topics, no worksheet — they will sing back the whole week without noticing they are being tested.

3 min Game · Walk the orbit

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Put the yellow sun in the middle of the floor. Everybody holds hands in one big ring around it.

Walk one whole lap singing the chorus, slowly. Then: “Faster!” — one lap running. Then “Stop! Let go! SPIN!” and everyone spins on the spot and falls over laughing.

“Round and round!”  Bigs: “Earth goes round the sun.”

Then to the table: each child colours their own planet sheet, you scribe their sentence, and they get their award. Sheets go on the theme wall, awards go home.

1 min Close

One last ring, hands joined, whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Go outside, find the sun (don't look at it!), find your shadow, and jump on it. Then say “h-o-t… hot!” in the sunshine — this week's sound, free.

The four chords

Tempo: a slow, rolling waltz-y walking pace — this is an orbit, not a march. Am is one finger, the same finger as F's first shape, and it appears only in Wednesday's moon verse. If it scares you, play C there instead; nobody will mind.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. On the last “told!” everybody hugs themselves and holds still — that stillness is how you get the next instruction heard.

One verse a day — verses use C and G7 (and one Am on Wednesday)

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — Friday's finale is the whole thing top to bottom, and it doubles as your review of the entire week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. That's the entire chorus — the same three shapes you already used in the last two weeks. Am is a bonus: one finger on the top string, second fret. Play it slowly and let the kids hear how different it sounds.