Topic

The Starry Night

What Stimulates: Admiration, Curiosity, Questioning

Preparation and materials:

  • Find a safe place at night where there are no distractions from noise or lights. It could be a balcony or window. If they cannot go outside or have access to a window, they can, for example, create an atmosphere inside the house by making and gluing some stars on the ceiling, or on a sheet adapted as a little cabin, turn off the light and use a flashlight to show them.
  • 'The Milky Way' resource (attached)

Recommended ages: 0 to 3 years old - 3 to 5 years old - 5 to 8 years old

Why is this activity important?

Children are captivated by nature and attuned to the nature around them – Allow your child to engage with nature to develop their sense of wonder and wonder at the natural environment, to observe how it grows and changes, and where your child connects in relation to everything that surrounds him. Allow them to be enchanted and immersed in all that the world has to offer and find comfort in it as well.

FOR AGES 0 - 3 YEARS
1 - At night, take the child to a safe and very quiet place, where there are no distractions or lights. Look together at the sky and point at the stars. You can ask your child:

  • Look! What do you see?
  • What do they look like?
  • Can you touch them?

2 - Pretend to reach a star and grab it. Slowly bring it to the child.

3- As you experience the moment with your child, let yourself enjoy the moment while watching the sky together. Avoid too much talk. Stay as long as the child is interested.


FOR AGES 3 - 5 YEARS

1- When it's dark outside, take your child to a safe, quiet place where there are no distractions or lights. If you can't leave the house, you can go to the garden, the balcony or the window.

2- Hold hands with your child and point to the stars. Take a moment to pause and reflect on what you see in the sky.

3 - Below are some dialog suggestions. When the child responds, don't correct him or give him too much information, but allow him to explore and observe the sky.

  • Look! Look! That's stars! Stars as far as the eye can see!
  • Can you reach them? Can you touch them?
  • What do you see?
  • Can you see any way the stars do?
  • Let's try to catch a star! (Pretend to pick up a star and bring it to the child).
  • What do you think could be out there in the sky next to the stars?

4 - Avoid too much talk. Stay as long as the child is interested and finish by asking:

  • What did you like most about this time together?

FOR AGES 5-8

1 - Before doing this activity with your child, study the Milky Way (attached) See where the Milky Way and the main constellations are in your area.

2 - Take a child to see the night sky in a place away from the lights. Ask your child to look at the sky.

3 - You can ask your child some questions and when he answers, try not to correct them or convey too much information to him. Instead, follow their comments and ask more questions. You can use some as below according to your attention span and as you see fit.

  • What do you see?
  • Did you know that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the entire Earth? Can you imagine how much that is?!
  • What shapes do you see that connect the stars? (Point out some family constellations in your area).
  • Do you see the Milky Way galaxy belt that crosses the sky? (Point to the big belt of stars running across the night sky. You can share that it's too bright to see it here and imagine where it must be by drawing it with your finger in the sky).
  • Where do you think they came from? How did they get there?

4 - Look at the sky together with your child while talking. Continue this conversation, stay as long as the child is interested and finish by asking:

  • What did you like most about this time together?

Suggestion:

At the Pastoral da Criança, we encourage play, especially in the family. When we offer opportunities, children also express themselves through drawing, painting, modeling. In doing so, they use their senses, their thinking, place their emotions and seek to know the world. Follow the topics How to create paints, How to make chalk, pencils and brushes and Modeling clays and enjoy drawing, painting or modeling a Milky Way together. At e-Toys and Play you have these and many other play tips!

Keep in Mind:

If it's not safe in your area to be outdoors at night, you can encourage your child to explore and practice wonderment during the day. Encourage your child to touch a tree, caress a flower stem, smell the air, or observe an insect up close. You can replace the stars in the sky with clouds in the sky and marvel at the shapes the clouds make.

Tip on how to do this group activity:

It can be logistically difficult to plan an evening activity with children if you are in school or day care. Instead, you can ask the children to imagine that it was a night sky. Get the group ready to go out and find a space for everyone to lie down in a circle. Ask the children to look at the sky and talk about what they imagine they see in the sky at night. You can use some of the proposed questions according to your age group.


Resource: The Milky Way

Through a starry night, children are in touch with the wonders of the universe. The spiritual capacity for wonder and awe means being open to the beauty and mysteries of life. It is appreciation for what is precious and inspiring. It means taking time to appreciate the beauty of nature. It means reflecting on the incredible wonders that happen when you are open to God's grace or the calling of the universe. Practicing wonder and admiration can also mean:

  • Spending time in the beauty of nature
  • Be inspired by the mysteries of life
  • Be fully present in the moment
  • Believing that life has meaning
  • Have a daily practice of prayer and reflection

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