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You could be an educator, parent, grandparent, old friends, uncle or aunt, and wanting to teach the little about astronomy and throw some light on them. Although the world of astronomy is highly interesting, and there is a lot to dive deep into this topic, but grabbing the kid’s attention is challenging and there is no doubt about the fact. Science today with the help of advanced tools has discovered a plethora of things about the solar system. It is just not kids, but adults also enjoy the beauty of the sky and solar system and are forever inquisitive to know about it. 

 The next time you are gazing at the sky, you can share some of the fun facts about stars with your little one and make them feel more inquisitive about astronomy at a very young age.

 1. Although we assume that the light of the stars reaches us in seconds, in reality, it takes millions of years for the light of the star to reach our eyes. This implies that when you look at the night sky, you can assume that you have gone back 100,000 years back in the olden days. 

2. The closest star to the Earth is none other than the huge sun. However, with close, we do not meet a few miles close; the close definition here means that the sun is 4.24 light-years away, which is huge. It would take approximately 70,000 years to reach the sun even if we are travelling in the fastest running spacecraft of ours. 

3. Although stars seem to look tiny when compared to the sun, but in reality, almost all the stars are bigger and shine brighter than the sun. There are 50 most visible stars, and each of them is biggest than the sun. The dimmest star amongst the 50 stars is Alpha Centauri. Even though being the dimmest, it is still 1.5 times brighter than the sun. 

4. Stars are really old in age, and the average age of the stars is between 1-10 billion years. However, some of the stars are even older than this. We reside in the milky way galaxy, and it is approximately 13.2 billion years old. 

 Fun ways to get your kids excited about astronomy: 

 1. Paint the room of your kids: 

Kids are generally obsessed with their rooms, and the most important learning happens through their rooms themselves. An effective way to teach your kids about astronomy is to paint their room that includes planets, rockets, nebulae, stars, etc., that helps your child get a personal connection with the sky and the universe.

Try and make the painting as accurate as possible to give your child that authentic feeling. As per a study, it can be stated that kids tend to prefer and stay excited about the things that are actually real in life. Every day before sleeping, make sure you sit with your child in their painted room and discuss astronomy by pointing out the figures made. Practical knowledge is always better than theoretical knowledge. 

 2. Buy Them binoculars: 

Instead of buying your kid’s telescopes, that are a little challenging for the small kids to handle, you buy them binoculars. Not only just kids, but even adults love to experiment with the binoculars. Moreover, a pair of binoculars is a very small investment, and with this, you can start educating your child about astronomy and get into the world of the universe faster.

You can also stabilize the binoculars with a tripod and help them see the universe from a close angle. Trust us when we say this, the moment your kid sees the universe closely, he or she will definitely fall in love with it.