Have you tried using star charts with your young children to star gaze and run into problems when they couldn't see the constellations you were trying to point out? I have, too. So, with summer here I tried to figure out a way that the shape of the constellation and the layout of the stars in a constellation would be available and easy to see for younger children. My solution—glow-in-the-dark constellation cards.

I created a set of images for some of the easiest to see constellations making the brightest stars ( α alpha) a larger dot than the ( β beta) slightly less brighter stars and so on. I added the images to a Word document included a title at the top and information useful for locating the constellation with interesting additional details from Wikipedia. My constellation cards were ready to print on heavy cardstock and paint with glow-in-the-dark paint. Now each child could have their own set of glow-in-the-dark constellation cards, so our next star gazing trip they could check and recheck to remind themselves what they were looking for as they trained their eyes on the correct quadrant of the night sky. Most cards are for constellations seen during the summer months, but I've included a few winter constellations, too.

A few additional free resources are all that's needed to make your star gazing journey a success. Sky Maps has available a free downloadable sky map. It includes information on special sights each night of the month and gives you the viewing times when the map is most accurate each part of the month. It also has a listing of celestial objects that can be seen with the naked eye, binoculars, or a small telescope. The article (Kids: The study of the sky and celestial bodies) at Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews, gives basic information about the constellations, what they look like, and what can be seen with the naked eye and binoculars. The Constellations has myths behind the naming of the constellations and detailed information about the stars that form each constellation. This site would be perfect for those wanting to explore the night sky in greater detail. You can also find additional information about each constellation at Wikipedia.

Constellation Cards
(These are pdf documents, which you may print. Please do not post these cards online. They are copyrighted.)

• Andromeda
• Bootes - The Herdsman
• Canis Major — The Great Dog
• Cassiopeia — The Queen's Chair
• Cygnus — The Swan
• Gemini — The Twins
• Leo — The Lion
• Orion — The Hunter
• Pegasus - The Winged Horse
• Scorpius - The Scorpion
• Taurus — The Bull
• Ursa Major — The Big Dipper — The Great Bear
• Ursa Minor — The Little Dipper — The Lesser Bear