Day and night

Ages 3 to 5 Read and do together · about 15 minutes

Read together

The Earth spins like a top, slowly.

When our side faces the sun, it is day. When it turns away, it is night.

Do it

1. In a dim room, put a lamp or torch on a table. This is the sun.
2. Hold a ball or globe. Put a small sticker on it for “us”.
3. Turn the ball slowly. When the sticker faces the light, say “day”. When it turns away, say “night”.
4. Notice: the sun does not move. We do. The ball turns once each day.

Talk about it

• Where is it night when it is day here?
• What do you do at night?

For the grown-up

The Earth turns once about every 24 hours, which gives day and night. When it is day where you live, it is night on the other side of the world. Children in different countries are asleep or awake at different times.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Space Place, “Why do we have day and night?”
• NGSS Lead States, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (National Academies Press, 2013), performance expectation 1-ESS1-1 (patterns of the Sun, Moon and stars)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.