Mumsnet Talk

Hi there,

just wondering whether anyone has got anything age appropriate on planets, stars, galaxies etc. Our ds gets really excited when he sees the moon and stellar objects and we would like him to learn a bit more than just moon and star. dh is an astronomer but obviously all his textbooks are way too advanced and lacking in pictures and excitement for a toddler!

Would appreciate any recommendations for a nice picture book on celestial objects.

How simple? Ladybird do a little book on stars and planets.

Models? Homemade mobiles? what about the science museum? Do they have a shop online if you can't go in person?

I would browse in any decent bookstore kids' section. There's no point trying to be age appropriate, just go for the primary school age material, and read him the pages he shows an interest in. He'll get to it later if it turns out to be too much now.

DS is 4 and he got a fastastic orary for Christmas from TKMaxx - he loves it to bits and has learned all the names and various details of the planets. Not sure about stock reliability at TKMAXx though - I guess it could have been a one off?

Kingfisher and usborne both do young people's encyclopedia type books and we have quite a few e.g my best book of the moon ; I wonder why stars twinkle . They are very clear, good to read to 3-yr old. Book People sometimes do specials on collections of these.

Hi there! My son (3.3) is just the same. He has the Kingfisher book of the Solar System which he enjoys looking at even though it is a bit beyond him. Much more successful, though, was one of those laminated posters you can buy for about £2.99 (usually things like colours, numbers 1-20, shapes etc but I have seen several of the solar system). He pores over that for ages!

We've had this pull-out solar system book since ds was a toddler. Seems robust, since it's still going strong & he'll be 8 in the spring.

Many thanks for everyone's suggestions, will go and browse now!

Also get out into the night air and point out the real thing while we still have dark evenings. Might have to go out of town because of the light pollution

I’d second getting out and having a look – watch the phases of the moon change, and learn the path of the moon across the sky - when our dd was tiny we had beautifully clear sky – even at 18 months dd knew the path of the moon across the sky above our house. Unfortunately we don’t have such a dark sky now .
Point out the moon when it is out during the day. Point out the planets and notice how they also follow a path across the sky. In a couple of years time when he is five or six look at the planets through a telecope. Dd was not impressed with nebulae and globular clusters at five but well impressed with the rings and moons of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. Also watch out for ‘special events’ – there is a lunar eclipse on the evening of the 3rd March for example, I’m not sure if a 2yo would be impressed but they are great for slightly older children with binoculars.

One of my children brought home a lovely book from school with an "activity" in which children were supposed to ask their parents to get up every hour in the night and stick paper on the windows to show where you could see the moon at each time. Needless to say I'm not recommending that one.

usborne do a good factual book on planets - I'll look for it.

Another book (that my children still love but we were given it as a present around the age 3 mark) is Zoo in the Sky .

What a lovely book foxinsocks, I’ve just put it in my Amazon shopping basket.

My dh is a professional astronomer too boogiewoogie, and that makes us a little ambivalent about encouraging dd – we want her to love astronomy on one hand – but on the other hand we would encourage her to find more lucrative employment!

Usborne See Inside Space:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0746087594/?tag=googhydr-21&hvadid=4126758223&ref=pd_sl_2fiwnwzl4k_b

Space (Henry's House)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Henrys-House-Philip-Ardagh/dp/1407107216/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328479673&sr=1-1

I have both of them, both sets are suitable to 'baby scientist'.

There is a great Dr Seuss book about planets and stars.

We've got this , which is lovely.

DS's grandma got him a bigger Usborne Pop up book about space but I can't find it on Amazon. And it is far too advanced for him!