SkyandTelescope.com August 2014 37Tip #4: Don’t worry about both eyes being open.
Young children may not yet have the ability to close one
eye while keeping the other open. If necessary, have the
parent or caregiver cover the other eye while the child
looks through the telescope.
Tip #5: Make a wide variety of activities available.
To address short attention spans, set up stations and let
the kids take breaks when they start squirming. They will
come back to you when they are ready for more. You may
occasionally need to remind parents to let their young
children unwind for a few minutes and play with some-
thing else for a while.
Tip #6: Ask the right questions. Next time you’re
out at a star party, listen to yourself ask questions. There
are many types of questions, but I’m willing to bet that
you will ask, “Do you see ___?” the most. I know, because
I ask this question all the time. The problem is that the
answer is either yes or no, which does not prompt further
conversation or thought. “What do you see?” requires
a more complex answer. Asking, “What color is it?” (an
easier question to answer) gives you additional informa-
tion about whether your observer is looking at the object
that you are expecting him or her to notice.
Tip #7: Don’t shy away from long words. Toddlers
understand much more than we think they do, even if
they aren’t speaking much yet. Their vocabularies are
constantly expanding, and they love to learn new words.
So go ahead and use the big words — just be sure to
explain them or use them in sentences that are self-
explanatory. If you are looking at the Moon, you can call
it a crescent, or you can ask the children what shape they
see. If they say, “It’s a banana Moon,” you might reply,
“Yup, that banana shape is a crescent.” This response
uses the correct vocabulary while honoring the accuracy
of the child’s original statement.
Tip #8: Focus their energy to your advantage. Te l l
squirmy kids, “Go run in a big circle, an orbit, around
the telescopes!” Ta-da, they burn some energy, you get a
second to talk to the adults, and you have introduced a key
vocabulary term in a way that incorporates kinesthetic
learning. That’s grant-fundable education-speak right
there with all those buzzwords!
Tip #9: Choose the date carefully. Winter nights are
often too cold and summer nights too late for young chil-
dren. Fall and spring are better times of year. Aim for the
Sun to set about an hour before bedtime, remembering
that twilight can be plenty dark to see the Moon and the
fi rst stars. Tell parents to be prepared for the temperature
drop that comes as night sets in: mittens and hats may be
warranted for kids even if the day was warm.
If you are interested in engaging with toddlers and pre-
schoolers at star parties, try out these suggestions and get
those kids observing. You will soon see how rewarding
this age group can be. ✦Alice Altair Enevoldsen is Pacifi c Science Center’s planetar-
ium supervisor and the author behind Alice’s AstroInfo online
and the Skies over West Seattle articles in the West Seattle
Blog. She tweets as @AlicesAstroInfo and does volunteer
outreach as one of NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors.READY TO TAKE
THE KIDS OUT TONIGHT?
Here are some of my favorite late-summer targets:
The waxing Moon provides easy visibility in the evening
for the early-bedtime crowd. August 2014 will have the
Moon in the evening sky (i.e., before 9 pm) until August
11th, and then again from approximately August 27th
until September 10th.
You’ll also fi nd bright Saturn and Mars gracing August’s
evening skies. They are appealing targets because their
names might already be familiar to young children.
If the kids are ready to look at dimmer objects, try
aiming for Albireo in Cygnus or the Double Cluster in
Perseus. Both of these targets will show diff erent types of
stars in the same fi eld of view.DAYTIME OBSERVING Some celestial events seem to be made for young chil-
dren’s participation. Top: A group of preschoolers gathers around a solar telescope
for some daytime observing. Bottom left: A young boy enjoys watching the annular
eclipse of May 2012 from Point Reyes, California. Bottom right: Another boy views
the June 2012 transit of Venus from Berkeley, California.RAM WHITEANELA RAMOS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC / PABLO