Who says you can’t bring the stars indoors? This lesson calls for some fun indoor camping when it’s just too cold to brave the outdoors. Kids of all ages will have fun setting up camp and you can even recreate the starry starry night without having to peep through your window. While you’re at it, take this opportunity to teach the young little minds about constellations and how to identify them!

With all of the holidays over the Easter period, mom’s like me need to grasp at straws to find fun and affordable entertainment for the kids, and the more educational the entertainment is, the better! While kids of all ages would get a kick out of this activity, it’s probably best suited for primary school-aged kids, since they will be able to grasp the concept of astronomy and memorize the constellations. They will also be more capable of crafting their “telescopes”.

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Make Your Own Constellation Tube

Once you have your tent up and snacks prepared, it’s time to pull out the crafting materials before you lie back and do some “star-gazing”. Here’s what you will need.

• First of all, print yourself some constellation patterns, find a free download HERE
• Empty toilet roll tubes
• Sticky tape
• Scissors
• Black paper cut into squares (4.5" x 4.5")
• A large pin, or a thin knitting needle
• Cork board

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Instructions:

1. Snip out your constellation patterns around the outer dots.
2. Glue your cut-outs to the center of your black paper.
3. Place your paper onto the corkboard, right side up, and pierce each constellation hole (star) with your pin/needle.
4. Cut around your constellation patter, leaving at least 3cm of black paper surrounding it.
5. Then make cuts from the outer edge of the construction paper into the center, but do not cut into the constellation pattern.
6. Place the constellation pattern over your toilet roll tube, right side up, and fold over your pieces of black paper, securing them in place with tape, or a rubber band.
7. Mark each tube with the name of the constellation according to its dotted pattern.

Time for fun!

Make sure all of the lights are on, lie back on to your sleeping bags and start star-gazing. Look through each tube with one eye, keeping the other eye closed. You’ll see each constellation as it appears in real life, in the real sky! Discuss what you are seeing with your kids and ask them if they see the pictures and patterns in each one. This is a great way to memorize the patterns before heading outdoors, where you can ask your little dudes to try and spot and identify the real thing in the night sky.

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End the night’s fun activities with a story about stars, or a story about how the constellations and their names came to be. This really is such an amazing way to introduce kids to astronomy – who knows, they might develop a passion for stars! Happy camping!