Gift Guide 
What You’ll Need
- Pencil
- White craft foam
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- White glow-in-the-dark paint
- Paintbrush
- Yarn
- 12-inch stick
1. Using a pencil, draw a moon and two stars on the craft foam. Cut them out.
2. Punch a hole in the top of the moon and stars.
Curious
The light bulb icon represents curiosity. For content about raising a curious child, look for this icon.
Night Sky Mobile
A fun project for your pint-sized star gazer
Heads up, junior astronomers! This mini Milky Way soaks up the sunlight and glows all night.
Image Credit |
Photos by Guy Cali Associates, Inc.
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3. Paint both sides of the moon and stars with glow paint. When dry, paint both sides again.
4. When the second coat of paint is dry, hang the moon and stars from the stick using short pieces of yarn.
5. Tie a long piece of yarn to each end of the stick. Hang the mobile from a curtain rod in your child’s bedroom; the moon and stars will soak up the sunlight by day and glow at night.
Extend the Fun
For younger kids: Make ground-level glowworms. Cut leftover craft foam into small, friendly shapes—dog, cat, butterfly, bird—and paint them with glow-in-the-dark paint. Scatter these critters on a bedside table or tape to the bedroom wall or the front of dresser drawers to comfort little ones at night.
For older kids: The summer sky is full of twinkling stars and planets that are easy to see with the naked eye—or use binoculars for a closer look. (Search “night sky” and the name of your state.) Fun bedtime reading for ages 7 and older: Farmers’ Almanac. Kids can plot the phases of the moon and find out when the next meteor showers or solar and lunar eclipses are due.
