kids @ star parties

[mjcp]

Do kids go to star parties? Obviously there's not much point in bringing kids that aren't interested as they will get bored etc. but do interested kids go, are there other kids to make friends with etc?

mjcp.

[Kai]

Mine do , and lots of others as well

[Kai]

To be fair kids make friends all the time anyway.

the hard part is spending all day with the family and all night with the stars.

[James]

My daughter will be coming with me to one star party this year but I'm not sure which one yet! (Probably not Kielder ). Anna will be 5 in May and is good enough to know not to fiddle with cables/telescopes so won't be a problem and will be delighted to see any other kids there...

James

[daz]

MiniDaz is 11 and acts as Big Brother to the little ones! He's very good with them, takes them to the park and generally looks after them

[Greg]

I take mine and the wife....(TBH the wife is more trouble... )

My two are 3 and 6..And realise not to go near the scopes unless invited..

Our SGL organised starpartys tend to well behaved children friendly...They all have great time as we tend to do family friendly events during the day.

They all end up in each others tents playing on the Nintendo thingies or watching DVD's..Even do child friendly food!

Greg

[mjcp]

Sounds good, so a 5 and 7 1/2 yo should have some people to get on with!

technically it's the 7 yo's scope....

cheers,

mjcp

[Greg]

Sounds good, so a 5 and 7 1/2 yo should have some people to get on with!

No problems there...My mental age is somewhere between those two...

[James]

MiniDaz is 11 and acts as Big Brother to the little ones! He's very good with them, takes them to the park and generally looks after them

He certainly does! Anna still mentions him sometimes and he earned the profound gratitude of both Kate and I last time round!

James

[barkis]

I know The Dalby Forest event in August each year is a popular one for the kids. They have a Super Mountain Bike course there, and lots of activities that are supervised. A Moth watch, and Bats stuff like that. There is a competition for the Highest altitude Bottle Rocket. Fuel being Compressed air and water. Lots of fun that one. This one always run by Richard Davis of Astronomica, who have a stall there too, along with a few other vendors. Sometimes the Starfest coincides with the Pickering Steam Rally. There's also the North Yorks Moors Steam railway, which runs from Pickering to Grosmont. Whitby is a short car ride away too. Given good weather, this is an excellent place to go. Miserable if the weather is bad though. But isn't anywhere?.

Ron.

[Kai]

Sounds good, so a 5 and 7 1/2 yo should have some people to get on with!

No problems there...My mental age is somewhere between those two...

I can confirm this

I do have the piccies to prove it ......

[Andromeda]

im a kid with a scope and i will see if i can go to one

[Tim]

If you look on the 'star party guidelines' you may get the impression that kids at star parties are a scourge from the devil.

I take my three (11,7,5) and have had no problems.

There seems to be an attitude that kids make noise and that noise wont be welcome after a night up. I can tell you that at the last kelling heath party, we had 4 clear whole nights on the trot, and that many of the "serious" observers (who write the 'rules') were snoring by 2am....... a few mischievous types even suggested going round to wake them up to see what they were missing....

In the little part of the field occupied by some of the SGL crowd there must have been around a hundred thousand pounds worth of equipment set up. None of it was damaged by footballs, bikes, etc etc.

Or you could do what Beyondvision (Kevin) does, and build a veritable fortress to keep your little ones in! I have never seen such a brilliant use of tents and windbreaks!

66.666% of my kids aren't interested, but they still tag along, as does the missus. As Steve says, the hard part is juggling the nights awake with days out with the family!

Hope to meet you at a party soon!

TJ