Solar System Flashcards

Explore the planets in our solar system with these free printable solar system flashcards. Great resources for a unit study about space!

Kids of all ages LOVE learning about our solar system. Printable flashcards make exploring all of the planets fun.

Learning resources help children to visualize the structure of our solar system and the characteristics of each planet.

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Planning a space unit study with your kids? Make sure to check out all the free space learning resources.

I like to give my readers information about how they can use these flashcards with their kids. To jump ahead to the PDF downloadable cards, simply click on the link below.

Jump to:

• The Planets
• Age Range
• Skills to Practice
• Activities
• Scaled Model
• Additional Space Activities
• Terms of Use
• Download
• Comments

Teaching about space and the solar system can take a bit of creativity since you can not see all of the planets in real life. The best part about these cards is you can use them for all different types of activities.

From laying them out in the correct order to comparing and contrasting the appeance of different planets.

Included in this free set is a sun, asteroid belt, and keipur belt cards. This will give you a few more opportunities to explore our solar system with your kids.

The Planets

• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune

Orbiting around a large star, called our sun these planets make up our solar system. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are called the terrestrial (rocky) planets. While Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the gas giants.

Each planet has its own flashcard along with the sun. Included in the set is a card for the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt.

When laying out the cards in order, the asteroid belt card goes between Jupiter and Mars. And the Kuiper belt card is at the end after Neptune.

You can read more about the structure of our solar system on NASA's website.

Skills to Practice

• Planet ID
• Order of the Planets
• Gas Giants
• Terrestrial Planets
• Observations
• Comparing and Contrasting

Flashcards go beyond rote memorization. There are so many fun ways to use these cards with your kids! Basic hands-on manipulatives make learning about space fun.

As you look at the cards together, kids can compare and contrast the planets. You can group them into two groups: terrestrial planets and gas giants.

Of course, placing them in the correct order to see the structure of our solar system is always a fun lesson.

Activities

Science Table

Young children have them out at a science table or homeschooling space. A great way to protect the cards is to laminate the set after cutting them out.

Kids can come up with their own sorting and classification system or organize them using a prompt.

Scaled Model

Older kids, love creating a scaled model of the solar system. Now, these cards are not to scale, but they make great visual markers when laying out an actual scaled model.

Even if you do not have the space for a true scaled model, you can still lay out the cards in a long hallway or in a room.

A true scaled model can be created out on a large field (I've done it with a class before) and it is so worth it! A crank tape measure like this one will make the task easier to complete.

Planet Research

Instead of cartoon images, these flashcards have realistic images of each planet. It would be fun to pair these with books or online resources to learn more about the appearance of each planet.

The Ultimate Book of Space is a wonderful informational text for kids. Filled with facts about each planet along with the universe in general.

Terms of Use

These printables were created by Nature Inspired Learning and are for personal use only for your home, classroom, or public library. All of these free planet flashcards are for non-commercial use. See full disclosure.