Under 7s

[quimby44]

Hi just a quick question my friend has bought his daughter a telescope for Christmas myself I think it may be a bit to young as she will be up late at night I told him I can take them both to our local observatory is there a book that will be ok for her age thanks Stephen

[beamer3.6m]

Late night should not be a problem for Christmas time.

I showed our 4 year old the moon and m31 the other night at about 6pm.

[Alan64]

Here are two by H. A. Rey...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stars-New-Way-See-Them/dp/0547132808/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Find-Constellations-H-A-Rey/dp/054713178X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1PVKYPWFJCBAHSH1HA8F

[ronin]

As a minor warning - do not assume that at 7 or a bit under they will not absorb information like a sponge. The more you tell them the more they take in. It is likely not to be a case of something simple enough but something to keep them interested which they keep learning from. Get a book they can grow into for the next 6 months, then expect that they will need a more advanced book.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Going by many threads here in the run up to Christmas and buying scopes for kids...............7 yrs old is a bit late to the hobby. It seems many people are introducing kids/grand kids as young as 4 yrs old...........................which i think is too early. I took up astronomy when i was about 6-7 yrs old. Its a different generation though. I mean, these days kids as young as 3 are now using tablets.

[beamer3.6m]

Going by many threads here in the run up to Christmas and buying scopes for kids...............7 yrs old is a bit late to the hobby. It seems many people are introducing kids/grand kids as young as 4 yrs old...........................which i think is too early. I took up astronomy when i was about 6-7 yrs old. Its a different generation though. I mean, these days kids as young as 3 are now using tablets.

I think it depends on what you mean by introducing to the hobby.

If my child asks what I am looking at through my scope then I will show them.

I would not buy my children a scope as they are too young per she but they enjoy the simple stuff, moon craters etc.

[Paul73]

It seems to help if you explain what they are looking at. Sounds simple. But it is the keeping them engaged that is the problem.

The book of constellations looks like a good start. You can tell the story of the characters involved as you hunt down the constellation together.

My 6 year old came home from school demanding to see O'Bryan through the telescope.... He thought that the Nebula was cool as we chatted about what went on there.

Paul

[Mrbloke]

My 5 and 6 year olds are able to name the planets in order, and which ones are gas giants. My eldest also insists the Pluto is a planet, even though it never has been in her lifetime!

Don't worry about it. Make it exciting and kids of all ages (3-93) can be interested.

[Dave In Vermont]

At that age, my parent bought me a copy of The Stars by H. A. Rey. It bored me to no end. I never finished reading it. It still lives in my library though - awaiting a victim, perhaps.....

Planets fascinated me. My first set of books was the 1963 full set of the Encyclopedia Britannica - Aadvark to Zygote. So my mother started taking me to the town library, where I loaded up on astronomy books. I enjoyed reading the books by Fred Hoyle - later on he lost much credit as he believed in the "Steady State" theory which denounced the concept of an expanding universe - but I was too young to wrap my head around that at the time. I would have loved to have a telescope back then, and some sort of interactive program to play with. Like Stellarium. And someone patient enough to help me learn how to use that and/or similar.

I'd say a trip to an observatory would have been great! I did get taken to the Boston Museum of Science and it's planetarium. That changed my life! It sent me down the slippery-slope of science - for keeps. Having some adult guidance to learn more about astronomy would have been great. As well as meeting other kids who were similarily 'afflicted' with the astronomy-bug to 'play' with and compare notes with. And anything with ties to astronomy would have been most welcome - toys, t-shirts, pictures, etc. Immersion in the field, once I was hooked, of course.

All kids are different though. I'm sure your 7-ish will make it clear they are hooked - if they become such. Don't push it though. Let them decide on their own. If they do - then keep nourishing their hobby - which might become a career.

That's my 2¢ -

Dave

[Helen]

I bought this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/184810152X?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00 (froma recommendation on SGL) for our 7 year old godson.  It is great - lots of tickboxes and space to record what you've seen and the best bit is STICKERS     

Helen