Near star, far star

From the house

• Two balls or toys of the same size
• A long room or hallway

How to play

1. Hold the two toys side by side: “Same size, right?”
2. They keep one; you carry the other to the far end of the room and put it down.
3. Which looks bigger now? Can they hide the far one behind their thumb? Can they hide the close one?
4. Explain: “The Sun is a star that’s close to us, so it looks big. The other stars are suns too, just so far away they look like tiny dots.”

Fit it to your child

• Harder: Look for stars from the window: each twinkling dot is a faraway sun, and a very bright, steady one may be a planet.

Words to use

• near
• far
• big
• small
• Sun
• star

Why it helps

Seeing a faraway toy look tiny helps them understand that stars are giant suns that only look small because they are so far away.