DIY Daytime Constellations

Last week I recreated this Cloud identification tool that I saw on Pinterest and my son has loved it! Almost every day he has been outside trying to identify what clouds are in the sky. I am not sure if he is correct every time, but it has really entertained him and sparked an interest I never expected him to have.

So I thought I would recreate another Pinterest inspired educational tool that you can do with your kids, the daytime constellation activity.

I created the following 5 common constellations in a Publisher file using little circles and lines:

• Canis Major (the Dog)
• Ursa Major (The Big Dipper)
• Leo (The Lion)
• Hercules
• Orion (The Hunter)

I found the constellations online on various sites to create each of the constellations. I found it odd that there were different designs for the same one..so I think some sites include surrounding stars. I saved the file as an image and printed it on card stock paper.

 I carefully cut around the outer line to create 5 circle constellations.

Using a 1/8 inch circle hole punch with a 2 inch reach (this is important) I punched out each of the dots where a star appears in the sky.

The reason you need a 2 inch reach punch is so you can punch the holes in the middle of the circles.  I bought this 2 inch reach punch at Micheal's a while ago for around $5. If you find a coupon you might be able to get it for less. See how it is able to reach the middle of the large circle?

This is a regular hole punch; it doesn't reach the middle spots.

I punched each of the small dots on the 5 constellations.

Next is the fun part; head to a dark room or outside in the sun with your constellation cards and shine a light through them. You get to see what the constellations will look like up in the sky but during the day. I apologize this image is so bad, I was hiding out in my walk-in closet trying to take this photo. You get the idea though.

I created a few different versions of this file. The first was the one you see in the pictures above, all names, dots and lines are printed. The second, only has the names and dot, so you can have your child connect the dots to draw his/her own constellations. And the last one only has the dots.

UPDATE: I have saved the three images for you to download. Here are the links

• Constellations with no name and lines

• Constellations with no lines

• Constellations

Please leave me a comment with and let me know whether or not you were able to get this to work. Again, please keep this for personal or classroom use only. 

If you find any major errors, please email me and I can correct it for future emails. I am by no means an expert in this so any help is appreciated.

Happy star gazing!
Stephanie