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August
THE THEME IS
THE NIGHT SKY
This month, your child becomes a Stargazer Explorer. Discovering how people all over the world have used stars to tell stories, guide journeys, and inspire dreams. The challenge is simple, meaningful, and memorable:
Challenge Goal: Spot a real constellation, and create your own!
Don't have access to a dark night sky? No worries! You can create a constellation indoors using glow stickers, flashlight projections, or by enhancing the experience with this video: .
"Let’s look up together and find the moon and stars!"
✨ Step outside at dusk or just before bedtime.
🌙 Help your child spot the moon and any first visible stars.
👐 Point to each and say their names together, "moon," "star!"
Goal: Find the moon and at least one star in the sky and read or make up stories about the moon, stars, shooting stars and the magic of the night.
"Let’s find stars and use a constellation map to create our own star story!"
- View a constellation map together to understand what constellations are. Read about how they were used, or watch this video together.
- Step outside and find a few stars in the sky. If it's too bright where you live, consider a camping trip, OR grab a box, and poke pin holes through the bottom. Light it up from the other side and create your own night sky in a dark room.
- Imagine and trace your own constellation with your finger.
- Create a story about what you see. "Is it a turtle? A rocket? A dragon?"
Goal: Use the map, view the stars, and make your own constellation + story.
"Tonight, you're a constellation hunter and designer. Can you spot one from the map and create your own?"
- Bring a printed constellation map outside and try to spot one in the night sky.
- In a notebook or piece of paper, draw the real constellation you find.
- Then invent your own constellation using stars as inspiration and give it a name.
- Recreate it at home with your glow-in-the-dark stickers.
NOTES: Here is a constellation map .
If it's too bright where you live, consider a camping trip, OR grab a box, and poke pin holes through the bottom. Light it up from the other side and create your own night sky in a dark room.
Goal: Identify a real constellation and draw a new one based on the stars you see.
FUN FACTS
- Stars are massive balls of gas burning light-years away!
- Constellations are made up. Different cultures imagine different things in the same stars.
- Light pollution makes it hard to see stars. Turning off lights helps people, and animals see the sky better!
PRO TIP: Use this website (or app on mobile) to identify EVERY star, planet and satellite you see for free: https://stellarium-web.org/
Everything in your envelope and how to use it
Challenge Card
Contains your month's challenge details and a special explorer code. Use this to kick off your adventure!
Themed Badges
Two badges—a heat transfer iron-on badge and a direct transfer badge (like a waterproof sticker). Find easy instructions to apply them [here].
Sticker Set
A fun collection of themed stickers to decorate journals, water bottles, or your adventure gear
Themed Postcard
A special postcard printed on watercolor paper, ready to color or paint with your waterscape palette.
Envelope Surprise
Glow in the dark stickers to make your own constellation of stars.
Tag us on your adventure @playoutside.co
Art Activity
Use your glow stickers and imagination to design a star pattern. Draw it first, then build it with the stickers. Share the story behind your constellation!
This month, your child is learning to look up, slow down, and find wonder in the stars above. Whether spotting real constellations or creating new ones, your family is connecting with a tradition as old as time—and inspiring big imaginations.
Turn off the lights, look up, and let the stories shine.
BOOK PICKS
Keep learning by reading. Here are a couple of book recomendations
