It's summer here in the fabulous land down under which means warm nights and clear skies without a cloud to be seen which makes it the perfect time of year to go star hunting!
I'm not sure if all kids are the same but little miss is obsessed with the stars, the moon and planets which ends up being a lot of the stuff we talk about. It's also why we do experiments and different kinds of science education because I think it might be a passion of hers.
I ducked out and got her a cheap telescope nothing too major just a $20 one from Kmart and I wasn't expecting anything too great. I do eventually want to get a proper one but she's a bit young and I think it might end up broken. This one only lasted a few days but we'll get to why a little later.
But for now, it's off to find a dark place in the park to see if we can spot some planets and see the moon upclose!
We've mainly been using the APP Star Tracker and have done so over the past few years. It's really good and almost accurate where all you need to do is open the app and point your phone at the sky and it will tell you the star constellations.
It's a really handy tool to have and great fun there is also some magical music that plays in the background and can be quite relaxing. It even showed us when the space station zoomed passed the earth and you can use it to find planets.
As you can see from my screenshot of the open app it gives you quite a nice view. I'll often use it to teach lil miss about the planets and then we will turn to our solar system book and read up about each planet we can find.
Some nights the planets are close enough that you can see them with your own eyes. They just resemble other stars except for Mars at it always has a red tinge to it. Other planets appear brighter in the night sky and its good fun.
So How Did We Go?
I'd love to be able to say we had a stellar time and upload images from the telescope but as it turns out the old $20 Kmart telescope turned out to be an utter flop. Or we ended up with a dudd because not a single ounce of light came through with the only thing it being able to pick up being the moon but it came through as a distorted glowing orb.
We chuckled and laughed and lil miss asked if all telescopes were like this to which I responded no and that I would get her a proper one one day just not yet then we could look up to the stars every night.
The Telescope came with a 50x and 100x zoom lense but they both provided the same distorted view and unfortunately it lays in pieces currently because lil miss with her curiosity decided to pull it apart to see how it works.
Just mirrors dad! The mirrors are probably broken. and that was her assessment of what had occurred and why it didn't work.
How are your children? Do they look upon the stars and dream also?
*Hey there! @missdeli here! *
So, this is so impressive! Thanks so much for sharing this because also my son [3yrs old] is very passionate about planets, stars, moon, sun and all things related to Universe!
He already knows so so much about this and I was just thinking maybe I need to come up with something else,cause the theory he already knows it. Maybe this could be that one, using this app.
Do you consider it appropiate for a 3 yrs old or should I wait a little longer?
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Thats awesome to know! And well done on supporting him with us passion. I've been using the APP since Lil Miss was 2 and it's been fantastic. They get hooked on it so make sure the battery is charged!
Hey there! Sorry for my late reply, I've been into a lot this week:D How long is your baby girl now?
I've already download this app and I'll definetely look into it carefully when I have some time. From what I've read to your post, you only need the app? or is it mandatory to have with it a telescope?
If you really want her to learn star stuff, @jang has a daily space weather post with a bunch of links to star teaching videos.
Suspiciousobservers.org has books and other learning materials just for kids, too.
Thank you, I will have to check it out. Sounds like it would be great addition.
Wow, this is a great activity for children. I will certainly do this for my son next summer when the sky is clear. Have a nice day ahead.
It was great fun and I really enjoyed it even though it didn't work lol. I'm going to have to buy a better telescope soon
That would be super interesting ...i would love to try the app ...and see what I find in my sky...
Thats fantastic and it is a lot of fun! I would really recommend it. I know we've had it for over 2 years and it's been great.
This is fantastic to see kids interesting with things like that
Thank you, it is quits inspiring to see her learn and also want to.
It is awesome and thank you very much for sharing this experience, my children like nature and with this application you show I can start talking to them about the night sky and the stars thank you very much.
You're welcome, it is q fantastic application and I would highly recommend. It keeps my little one entertained and the best part is that it works in the day too!
Really impressed, I did not know about this application, it looks very interesting. I love the stars and this is a really fun way to learn about them. Thanks today I learned something new.
You're welcome and I would highly recommend the app it's amazing!
It's been a long time I haven't visited here in the community but there's nothing to shock for from my expectations on how lil miss continued her interests . I'd always loved this girl every time I read your posts on her journeys of learning a lot of stuff. Imagine on her age, she explored a lot of information and experienced great things in life. Good job Lil miss and Daddy as well.
Thank you, she is a bright kiddo and I really have enjoyed that aspect of the lock down. We have had to get creative and think of new ways to engage and learn and keep occupied while balancing work also. Been fun.