Star constellation crafts – make star tube viewers
Get children learning about the moon and stars through crafts with this star constellation activity.
Like so many other small children, N loved the moon when he was younger. He liked to look out for it going down in the morning, and went through phases of asking for it at night. He also talked about the man in the moon. As for crescent moons…I’ve not yet done the jaffa cake version with him, instead he did his own version. He would hold up any piece of food in that shape and say it’s a crescent moon. (usually bread or toast. One time he was talking about a banana moon, but I’d not idea what he was getting at there).
So I’d been meaning to make these star telescopes for a while. If you make them over the summer, you’ll be ready in preparation for star gazing once the nights draw in again. It’s a simple constellation craft that doesn’t take long to make.
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I remember making them at Brownies all those years ago, and remembered my constellations for years. Not so hot now (like with my nature knowledge) – it’s terrible how you lose the knowledge of certain things you learn at school age. These are a great way to teach children constellations.
What you need
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- Cardboard tubes. I used toilet rolls, which the OH then flipped about as he said it was unhygienic, so I suppose kitchen roll tubes would be better. You can cut to whatever length you want.
- Black paper. I used tissue paper which isn’t great because it’s not dark enough, but I couldn’t find any dark card or paper around the house.
- Pin
- Pen
- Elastic bands
To make constellation star tubes
1, Cut pieces of black paper large enough to be folded over the tubes. I cut squares, but circles would do the job too.
2, Choose your star constellations. Depending on the width of your tubes, you might need to choose small ones so they’ll fit.
3, Draw the constellation on the black paper – make sure you hold it over the top of the tube so you keep within the right size.
4, Use the pin to make holes in the paper. This is quite hard on tissue paper to not rip it, but using black paper should be easier. You need the holes to be a reasonable size.
5, Place the paper over the top of a cardboard tube (make sure the constellation is facing the right direction when you look through the other end of the tube). Tie on with an elastic band.
6, Repeat for different star constellations (I noted down the names on the side of the tubes).
You can view them just looking towards the light. I tried putting a torch inside and making the constellation shine. As I mentioned, the tissue paper isn’t really thick enough, but the shapes were still recognisable.
I’ll be using these with N when we next talk about the moon and stars. Bringing the night time to him so he doesn’t miss it while asleep.
If you want to take it to the next level, why not check out my fun activities to teach the night sky, moon and more post.
Do you have any constellation crafts you can share? And let me know how you get on with these.
Why not take a look at these craft posts.
Oh that is so clever! Actually my own dad would love this, he used to always show me the stars and shooting stars or eclipses when I was younger, a lovely idea!
Ah, that’s a lovely memory to have. It was my mum for me
This is such a lovely idea and I really want to do this with my boy. He has a bit of an obsession with stars and it’d be lovely for him (and I!) to learn the constellations 🙂
It’s definitely a fun way to do it, and the tops can be changed as you learn more
what a really great idea. I have always been fascinated with stars and the sky. Im hoping when little J is older he will be interested too
The sky is amazing. We have no street lights near us, so when the stars are out on the black sky, it’s amazing
what a clever idea. I know my littlest would love this craft and idea. Plus she would learn something too!
It’s always good when crafts can be educational too.
What a fantastic idea! My kids would enjoy creating this & then learning about the consolations. It brings them to life! x
It’s a bit more fun compared with looking in a book or trying to isolate them in the sky
This is a brilliant idea, never seen anything like it before. My little girl (5) love the stars and she would love this.
It’s so easy to do, great for upcycling, and good science teaching for kids.
They’re excellent, and yes, I too have a very distant memory of making them at Brownies! 🙂
I love the Readers Digest books, they were the best Wikipedia we had as children!
Oh yes, I used to love my mum’s Reader’s Digest books- shortened and reworked classics, plus those magazines with short stories, and of course atlases and the like. Great history
Absolutely brilliant idea! We’re totally going to do this… Stroke of genius …Love finding you from @HodgePodge & the T Crafts.
Our nursery takes all our loo rolls & egg cartons …#Sweden – gotta love it! 🙂
Glad you like it. Handy that your nursery makes use of loo rolls and egg cartons. Bit H&S mad over here!
What a fantastic and original idea! Brilliant. Thx do much for linking to the parenting pin it party this week. xx
Thanks for hosting. Something a bit different, so hopefully it’ll fit in well with other people’s space activities.
Oh this is brilliant! Thanks so much for sharing with the Monday #pinitparty. I will be featuring it as my favourite in next weeks party on Monday. I do hope you will join in again 🙂
Ah thank you. Seems to have got lots of people excited by it which is great as it’s so simple.
This is so sweet! Pinned to do with my 4 year old. #pintorials
This is a brilliant ideas! I love it! We had made turn the easter egg into solar system. http://etspeaksfromhome.co.uk/2013/03/turn-easter-eggs-into-our-solar-system.html
My son would love to make this!
Love your solar system. Would definitely go well with the star tubes
I LOVE LOVE this idea! All three of my kids love anything to do with space and craft so put the 2 together and they’ll be over the moon. I can’t wait to do this with them! Thank you so much for sharing!
Glad you like it. Seems to be going down well which is great. Really simple – and something a bit different. Just make sure it’s thicker paper than tissue for better darkness to light!
what an utterly brilliant idea! I love star gazing. We once had a craft kit which was like a globe shape with lots of constellations with a torch you shone through so it was similar but i love the idea of making your own from scratch! x
Now that sounds like a good idea for a whole globe. A proper globe is on my list to get N. Maybe his next birthday.
I love these, such a great idea. We had a letter a few years ago from big Js school about toilet rolls saying they no longer could be donated and to use kitchen rolls instead.
That’s just what our nursery say too. No loo rolls and no egg boxes.
What a beautiful idea! And I never thought about toilet rolls being unhygenic – I suppose they might be, but they’re sooooo handy for crafty things!
Think my OH’s a bit obsessed with hygiene. Shame he’s not the one that does the cleaning! Our nursery won’t take loo rolls for junk donations presumably due to that (and egg boxes).
Gosh, what a brilliant idea! If you’ve got a child interested in this kind of thing, it’s definitely good to catch their attention right from now. Excellent idea!
Can’t claim it for my own, but it’s something a bit of fun. N has one of those rotating light/constellations products that beams onto the bedroom wall, but he’s a bit scared of it. So this is tame enough for him!
never seen this idea before, how wonderful for those interested:)
Hopefully someone will find it useful. Could be changed to reflect other silhouettes, not just stars.