What is the Earth Made of? Playdough Earth Layers

If you are studying earth science or about our planet, you will love this engaging playdough earth layers activity! In this clever playdough earth children will explore what is the earth made of for kids.  Try this layers of the earth playdough lesson for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd graders. We’ve also included a fun core sampling activity for kids and additional resources like free planet worksheets too!

what is the earth made of for kids

If you are studying earth science or exploring our incredible planet, you won’t want to miss this engaging playdough earth layers activity! This hands-on experience allows children to dive into the fascinating world of geology as they create their very own model of Earth’s layers using playdough. It’s not only fun but also a fantastic educational tool for kids.

By participating in this activity, children will gain a clear understanding of what makes up our planet. They’ll learn about the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core in a creative and interactive way. This playdough earth project is perfect for preschoolers, kindergarteners, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 students.

It is designed to captivate young minds and ignite their curiosity about the Earth’s composition. In addition to this exciting playdough activity, we also include a core sampling activity that gives kids the chance to explore the concept of geology further. Core sampling helps them understand how scientists study the Earth’s layers and gather valuable data about its structure.

We have lots more science projects for kids and earth science project ideas. Plus don’t miss layers of the earth worksheets, free rock sycle worksheets, look inside volcano project, and solar system coloring pages.

what is earth made of for kids

We started our Homeschool Earth Science unit by reading Planet Earth / Inside Out by Gail Gibbons. I found this to be a good resource with nice clear illustrations. I often make the mistake of trying to procure 4-5 books per topic and then never use all of them. This was my favorite of all the ones I read through at the library. I will point out that if you are a Creationist who believes in a young earth (as we do) you will want to skim over a couple parts.

layers of the earth playdough

To help the kids really understand the layers we did an Earth Science Experiment for kids. I wanted to help them visualize it. Studies show we remember better if we see, hear, say & do things! So we made a model of the earth’s layers out of playdough. We talked about each layer as we made it. Then we repeated the layers again after we cut it open. As a visual learner myself this unit really helped me retain the information and it was such a pretty earth!

playdough earth

You will need 6 balls of play dough (store bought or homemade playdough).  Make the red ball the smallest and increase slightly in size for each remaining color (yellow, orange, purple) ending with the blue ball being the largest. You will also need some green to shape the planets on the outside of your earth.

Now begin layering up your earth by flattening the yellow ball and putting it around the red ball layer.

playdough earth layers lesson plan

Pinch the ball closed so it looks like you just have a yellow ball. Repeat with the remaining layers one by one ending with the blue layer. Use Planet Earth Inside Out by Gail Gibbons to make your layers as accurately as possible.

planet earth project

Now use the green playdough to arrange planets on the outside of your earth.  (this would also make an excellent project for Earth day!)

layers of the earth playdough model

Now for the fun part of this earth science experiment. Using a knife cut the playdough earth ball in half. Now you will see all the earth’s layers!

Above you can see a view of the inside of the earth with the parts labeled.  Isn’t it pretty!

What’s Inside the Earth: Taking a Core Sample Experiment

Next I posed  a question to the kids, “How do we know what is in the middle of the earth?” Goofy (7) immediately remembered how HOT it is and that we couldn’t “go there.” So we talked about how Scientists (Geologists) take core samples.  To help them really understand what a core sample is we did a Cupcake Core Sample. I made cupcakes with several different layers and then frosted them brown (dirt) on top.

what is earth made out of for kids

The kids used a straw and stuck it straight in. They pulled it out and could see a sample of what was in the cupcake.  If you look carefully you can see a brown, purple, green, and yellow layer in the straw. They thought it was VERY cool! Then to help them really get the correlation with the cupcake and playdough earth model I cut the cupcake down the middle.

Earth’s Core for Kids

They both immediately said Ooooh!! I get it! I couldn’t wish for anything else! Science fun that my kids GET!

playdough layers of the earth

Help kids learn the name of the planets and arrange them in order from the sun with this fun playdough solar system projects for kids. This is a quick and easy-to-make solar system model that can be done along with a solar system project or done cooperatively with each student adding a planet.

layers of earth playdough

Discover the exciting playdough earth layers activity perfect for kids in preschool through 3rd grade, where they can learn about Earth’s composition while enjoying a fun core sampling project and access additional resources like free planet worksheets!