Categories: Parenting

Star Gazing: How Much Do Your Kids Know About the Night Sky?

Do you take the kids outdoors at night to watch the stars? It’s a relaxing and wonderful experience that your children may want to repeat many times. I started by reading a book about stars and constellations to them. Once such title is A Child’s Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations–and How You Can Find Them in the Sky by Michael Driscoll and Meredith Hamilton. This prepares you for sky gazing – the moon, star constellations and planets. Use this as a guide and downsize the technical jargon for younger children.

Either take a walk or sit outside and experience the night with all your senses. Here are some ideas to guide you and your child in this special experience.

Talk about the darkness. Is night the same as a dark room? Be sure that your child notices how much more she can see after her eyes have adjusted to the darkness. Notice the shape of the moon. See the vast amount of stars above. And for older kids, try to locate constellations that you read about in books.

Listen to the sounds of the night – the animals, birds, insects, people, traffic or just the silence if you are lucky!

Help your child find the moon, some stars and even a planet. As a rule, planets are found slightly above the horizon in the very early evening or just before sunrise. Also, stars appear to twinkle in the sky while the planets just shine. Don’t let your kids forget to wish on the first star they see. Repeat the star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…rhyme.

Watch for falling stars, which are really meteors that have entered our atmosphere.

Have a discussion about constellations, which are groups of stars. Long ago, people said these groups of stars looked like outlines of objects and/or people, so they gave them names. See if you can locate the Big and Little Dipper. Give your child a paper towel roll to look through like a telescope. You’d be surprised at how much more you can see without the surrounding light.

Activities in the dark

Play shadow tag under the moonlight.

How about tracing your child’s body outline on a large sheet of butcher paper using the moon for light?

Can you sort colored objects in the moonlight? Bring out some brightly colored blocks, socks or fabric. You many find that these objects only look black or gray with very little or no coloring when sorting them under the moon.

Activities about the night sky indoors

Create a nighttime drawing your little ones will enjoy. Draw stars and moon shapes on white paper with a white crayon. Invite the kids to paint the entire page with a black paint wash (black poster paint diluted with water). See the shapes magically appear.

Make shining stars together. Have the children dip star-shaped cookie cutters or sponges into paint and press them on paper to make prints. Sprinkle some glitter on the wet paint for a sparkle effect.

I hope you are able to take advantage of these beautiful summer nights to enjoy the night sky together as a family. Then take a star, moon and planet theme and do activities with the kids. Think about star and moon cookies and sandwiches, all kinds of art and games that have you moving in circles like the planets. Have fun!

Sources:

Personal experience

Durkin, Lisa Lyons; Special Times for Parents and Kids Together; Warner Books, 1987