Draw a circle with white chalk and create the craters on the moon by rubbing in the chalk with your finger.

Choose your favorite folklore from below and trace the lunar pareidolia of your choice!

In some East-Asian cultures, moon-gazers see a rabbit. A folklore that originated in China says the man from the moon came down to earth and he was very hungry. The rabbit had nothing to offer, so he offered himself for the man to eat. The man liked the rabbit so much, he carried the rabbit back to the moon to live with him.

Some Native American, African, and Chinese cultures see a frog in the moon. In one African myth, a great king wanted his son to marry the moon king’s daughter – the princess of the moon. No one knew how to tell the moon king, but a frog volunteered to take the message. One night, when the moon princess came to the frog’s pond for water, the frog hopped into her bucket and traveled with her back to the moon. Then he told the moon king that the earth prince wanted to marry the princess and the frog has been on the moon ever since.

Another lunar pareidolia is from the indigenous Maori people of mainland New Zealand. Because they live in the southern hemisphere, they actually see a moon that is upside down from how we see the moon in the USA! One Maori folktale is about a woman in the moon named Rona who was carrying a bucket of water. One night when Rona tripped, she fell and got stuck on the moon forever. The Maori people say that it rains when Rona’s bucket of water pours out.

Another lunar pareidolia is from the indigenous Maori people of mainland New Zealand. Because they live in the southern hemisphere, they actually see a moon that is upside down from how we see the moon in the USA! One Maori folktale is about a woman in the moon named Rona who was carrying a bucket of water. One night when Rona tripped, she fell and got stuck on the moon forever. The Maori people say that it rains when Rona’s bucket of water pours out.