This post is cross-posted at Play Outdoors. "One of Play Outdoors' prime initiatives is for children to have every opportunity to make a connection with nature and the outdoors." Sounds great, doesn't it?

When you look into the sky on a clear night another world appears. Stars twinkle, planets glow, meteors shoot across the sky and your imagination expands. Stargazing with your children can open a new world of hunters chasing bulls across the sky, giant bears roaming the darkness, black holes and red planets.

Stargazing can be as simple as lying on your back and gazing upwards. Or it can be as sophisticated as setting up a complex telescope and charting celestial movement. Most of us enjoy something in between.

Follow up:

map of the big dipper or Ursa Major (from Wikipedia)

Bring this:
While a telescope or binoculars can aid in star viewing, neither are necessary. There is plenty you can see with the naked eye, but there are a few things that can increase your stargazing enjoyment.

• Darkness. If you want to see stars it’s best to get away from artificial lights. The darker the better. Even the moon can give off enough light to dull stars and planets, so shoot for a night with a new moon (unless you want to check out the moon, of course!).

• Star chart or book of constellations. You’ll want to check these out before your stargazing expedition so you know what to look for and where to look. Not all constellations are visible all times of the year and most move throughout the seasons.

• Compass. So you know what direction to look for specific constellations.

• Flashlight with a red bulb or red cellophane over the lens. Red light will allow you to look at the book or chart without losing your night vision.

• Blanket or sleeping bag. Not necessary, but it’s nice to have something to rest on.

• Snacks and warm drinks. You want to keep up your little stargazers’ energy!

• Binoculars. They aren’t necessary, but a pair of binoculars will increase your ability to see details and fainter stars.

Look for this:
There are more than just stars in the night sky.

• Stars. The most obvious object for stargazers, stars are glowing balls of hot gas. Our sun is the closest star to the earth at 93 million miles. The next closest star is 26 trillion miles away.

o Binary star. A star that is actually two stars orbiting around each other. (For example, Sirius or the Dog Star, is a binary system.)
o Circumpolar star. A star that never sets and can be viewed year round.
o Constellation. A grouping of stars that have been given names by ancient astronomers because of the way they look.

• Meteor. A shooting star, observed when a particle of dust enters into the Earth's atmosphere.

• Meteorite. A rock, or other object, that falls onto earth from outer space.

• Galaxy. A group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity. Our galaxy is the Milky Way.

• Moon. Any natural satellite of a planet.

• Planet. An object moving around a star. Venus, Mars and Jupiter can be seen from earth at different times of the year.

• Satellite. A small object orbiting a larger one. These can be natural or human-made.

Do this:
Spend a little time before you head out looking at the star chart or constellation book. Figure out which constellations you can expect to see given the time of year and the time of night you plan to stargaze.

On a dark, clear night find an open place with a good view of the sky. Orient yourself with the compass and try to pick out one of the constellations you identified from the star chart.

That’s really about the extent of it. Depending on everyone’s level of interest you can stare at the sky and make-up your own constellations (and stories to go with them); try to identify multiple constellations, planets etc.; share tales you researched that relate to the constellations; or just relax and watch the stars move across the sky.

A few websites that I really like:

Kids Astronomy.com. Great resource of information for all things astronomical...for kids.
EarthSky Tonight. Find out what's happening up there right now.
National Geographic Star Journey. Star charts, a look at the Hubble telescope and more.

Some resources we use and love.

This book is easy to use for adults and kids. There is enough information, but not too much. And it glows in the dark, which is pretty cool.

Glow-in-the-Dark Constellations by C. E. Thompson

We take this star wheel with us whenever we are camping. It's easy to whip out and identify constellations with.

Night Sky Star Wheel by Wil Tirion

Related posts:
Star naming
Family Camping: teach your kids about astronomy
Stargazing with Children