Space Month: January
January's four space missions, one a week, made from things you already have at home. Do one, tap "I did it!", and a badge goes in your Sky Book.
Week 1: Make a star wheel
You need: Peabody's star wheel, printed (two pages), thin card and glue, scissors, a paper fastener.
- Glue both printed pages to thin card.
- ✂️ Grown-up step: Cut out the star disc and the holder, and the holder's window.
- ✂️ Grown-up step: Join them at the centre dots with the paper fastener.
- Turn the disc to tonight's date and the time, go outside, and find one star pattern from the window.
Why it works: The sky turns once a day and shifts a little every night, so the stars you see depend on the date and the time. A star wheel does that turning for you.
Little ones: A paper fastener is a small part: a grown-up keeps it.
Week 2: Make a red stargazing light
You need: a flashlight, red cellophane, a red balloon or red paper, a rubber band.
- Cover the front of the flashlight with two or three layers of red.
- Hold it on with the rubber band.
- Outside, after ten minutes in the dark, read a page with the red light. Then flash a white light for a second and see how many stars disappear.
Why it works: Your eyes take about twenty minutes to get used to the dark. Red light doesn't undo that much; white light undoes it in a second.
Little ones: Balloons and rubber bands are small parts: a grown-up puts the cover on.
Week 3: Count the stars in a tube
You need: a paper towel tube, a clear night, a pencil and paper.
- Go outside with a grown-up and wait ten minutes for your eyes to get used to the dark.
- Look straight up through the tube and count every star you see in the circle.
- Do it three times in different parts of the sky and add them up.
- Try again somewhere darker, or on a night with no Moon. Do you count more?
Why it works: Lights from towns hide the faint stars. Counting stars in a tube is how scientists and families everywhere measure how dark their sky is.
Week 4: Do the orbit dance
You need: three people (or two and a lamp), a room or a yard.
- One person is the Sun and stands still in the middle. One is Earth. One is the Moon.
- Earth walks a big slow circle around the Sun (a year), spinning on the spot as it goes (each spin is a day).
- The Moon walks a small circle around Earth, always keeping its face toward Earth.
Why it works: Earth spins once a day and goes around the Sun once a year; the Moon goes around Earth about once a month and always shows us the same side.
Week 1: Make a star wheel
You need: Peabody's star wheel, printed (two pages), thin card and glue, scissors, a paper fastener.
- Glue both printed pages to thin card.
- ✂️ Grown-up step: Cut out the star disc and the holder, and the holder's window.
- ✂️ Grown-up step: Join them at the centre dots with the paper fastener.
- Turn the disc to tonight's date and the time, go outside, and find one star pattern from the window.
Why it works: The sky turns once a day and shifts a little every night, so the stars you see depend on the date and the time. A star wheel does that turning for you.
Little ones: A paper fastener is a small part: a grown-up keeps it.
Done it? Date: ____________ Tick for your Sky Book: ☐
More at peabody.kids/space/sky/star-wheel
Week 2: Make a red stargazing light
You need: a flashlight, red cellophane, a red balloon or red paper, a rubber band.
- Cover the front of the flashlight with two or three layers of red.
- Hold it on with the rubber band.
- Outside, after ten minutes in the dark, read a page with the red light. Then flash a white light for a second and see how many stars disappear.
Why it works: Your eyes take about twenty minutes to get used to the dark. Red light doesn't undo that much; white light undoes it in a second.
Little ones: Balloons and rubber bands are small parts: a grown-up puts the cover on.
Done it? Date: ____________ Tick for your Sky Book: ☐
More at peabody.kids/space/sky
Week 3: Count the stars in a tube
You need: a paper towel tube, a clear night, a pencil and paper.
- Go outside with a grown-up and wait ten minutes for your eyes to get used to the dark.
- Look straight up through the tube and count every star you see in the circle.
- Do it three times in different parts of the sky and add them up.
- Try again somewhere darker, or on a night with no Moon. Do you count more?
Why it works: Lights from towns hide the faint stars. Counting stars in a tube is how scientists and families everywhere measure how dark their sky is.
Done it? Date: ____________ Tick for your Sky Book: ☐
More at peabody.kids/space/sky/darker-spot
Week 4: Do the orbit dance
You need: three people (or two and a lamp), a room or a yard.
- One person is the Sun and stands still in the middle. One is Earth. One is the Moon.
- Earth walks a big slow circle around the Sun (a year), spinning on the spot as it goes (each spin is a day).
- The Moon walks a small circle around Earth, always keeping its face toward Earth.
Why it works: Earth spins once a day and goes around the Sun once a year; the Moon goes around Earth about once a month and always shows us the same side.
Done it? Date: ____________ Tick for your Sky Book: ☐
Every month
“One small mission a week. By the end of the month you'll know more about space than most grown-ups.”