Mars has a pink sky and other spacey facts

When I was in elementary school (cough around thirty years ago cough cough), my favorite annual field trip was when my class would visit the planetarium at the high school.  Aside from the huge thrill of seeing all the big kids in the hallway, there was that awe-inspiring moment when we'd lay back and look up to see the night sky magically appear before our eyes.  I was mesmerized by the movement of the stars and the moon, and I loved to imagine all of the planets and galaxies just beyond.

My girls have started to express an interest in celestial bodies as well.  Fueled by the science she's learning in school, Mimi and I have had several discussions about the Earth's rotation and how we're just a small part of a larger galaxy.  And Rosie and I share a nightly ritual of looking for the moon on our commute home. 

So when the Parent Bloggers Network asked if I'd like to do a guest review of the Spark Talking Telescope from the Discovery Store, I jumped at the chance.  I'm no rocket scientist (though I happen to know a few), so I was happy to have an authoritative source of solar system facts to fill in my admittedly spotty knowledge of space science.   

When the telescope arrived, Mimi could hardly wait for me to get it out of the package and into her eager hands.  It required a few minutes' worth of setup -- unpacking, batteries, and (much to Mimi's frustration) I had to persist with my annoying habit of reading the instructions before handing it over.  But honestly, I needn't have worried too much about the instructions; with a little parental assistance, Mimi quickly figured out how to operate the telescope by inserting one of the labeled slides into the lens thingie (a technical term) and hitting the correct sequence of letters.

The telescope was QUITE popular with Mimi.  She spent several hours checking out the amazing images and reciting facts to her parents.  ("Momma!  Did you know the sky on Mars is PINK because of all the dust?")  The telescope talked Mimi through each of the slides, reciting one fact at a time and then reminding her to turn the selector dial for a new fact.  I thought this was a great approach, because Mimi could spend as much time learning facts about a favorite topic (e.g., pink skies on Mars) and skip over the subjects that she wasn't as interested in. 

The target age range for the telescope is  five and up, but my three year old enjoyed it too -- especially once she figured out how to squint one eye and look through the eyepiece with the other.  I think Rosie liked the excitement of a talking toy combined with the neat images of earth and space.  Her favorite slide was the Mars Rover, a.k.a., "the tractor."  So maybe the facts won't sink in for her quite yet, but at least she's getting familiar with the images of earth and other planets.

My favorite thing about the telescope is that it's truly designed to inspire kids to go off and find out more about space.  The telescope comes with a handy-dandy "Lab Assistant Guide" that gives parents some ideas for using the telescope as a springboard to additional learning.  Since I'm not a rocket scientist, I did appreciate the talking points provided by the Guide, as they helped me direct Mimi to observe different things about the planets and space objects that she was viewing through the telescope -- e.g., colors, moons, planetary rings.   Although I should know by now that ANY time I ask Mimi to tell me what colors she sees, she's going to immediately reply "PINK!" 

I guess my least favorite thing about the telescope is using and keeping track of the image slides.  I like the fact that the girls can insert and remove the slides at will in order to view different images, but I'm frequently called upon to assist during the slide switching process.  The slides must be inserted *just so* in order to be properly viewed, and it takes a little bit of practice to get them to click into place.   

Also, if there happens to be a slight battle between one sister holding the telescope and another sister who wants to use it, the slide drawer could possibly fling open and the slides could potentially go flying across the room.  To mix with the random collections of Legos, Polly Pocket clothing pieces, crayons, and fossilized goldfish crackers already on the floor.  Just theoretically. 

But hey -- cleaning a bunch of slides off the floor is a small sacrifice in the name of learning, right?

Bottom line: the Spark Talking Telescope is a great learning tool if you've got kids that are fascinated with space and all of its wonders.   Check it out at the Discovery Channel Store, or head on over to the Parent Bloggers Network to see what other folks have to say about it!

~ we now return you to our regularly scheduled blog, already in progress. ~

Comments

[mothergoosemouse]

It was a big hit here too - with both girls! As I'll post in my review, CJ even knocked it off the table, resulting in ZERO damage. I was shocked.

[Stimey]

Hmmm. I have some of those space obsessed kids. I might have to look into this.

[whymommy]

Oooh, fun. I hadn't heard of this. Neat!