Child’s telescope – and this aint not no toy.
My no.2 son, Boy, who is now 10, has been mad keen on All Things Space for as long as I can remember. He has a rotating solar system hanging off his bedroom ceiling, glow in the dark stars decorating everywhere, reads books and books on Space, LOVES the planetarium at At-Bristol, and last Christmas, all he wanted was one of those laser shows that creates a starlit sky on your bedroom ceiling (bought for a squillion pounds, made him feel dizzy as he fell asleep, promptly abandoned for months). One of his favourite times ever was last August, camping in Yorkshire, and the one clear night we had – we all stayed up late and watched the meteor shower of ‘shooting stars’. Magical.
The next obvious step was, of course, getting out and looking at the real thing. But telescopes are not only not cheap, but they’re not toys either.
So when I saw this Child’s Telescope one on Aspace’s website I may have let out an excited squeak. When they asked if I’d like to review it, I totally yelped a bit.
When Boy saw it, he actually made no noise at all – genuinely speechless.
That night, we had it all set up – and he got his first sight of the moon up close. His face was a picture of amazement and stunned awe – one of those magic parenting moments I’ll not forget.
On the technical side the telescope was easy to set up (with parental assistance), and easy to focus. Not just for the moon either – he spotted some nesting Red Kites a few fields away too. The legs are sturdy, the lenses good (husband is a photographer, he knows such things *baffled face*) and the map of the stars made for some really interesting conversations and learning for us all. The bestie best bonus is that it comes in a great case to keep it safe from childish batterings when it’s stored under the bed.
At £69.99 this child’s telescope is definitely a top tip from us for any stargazers you may have lurking in a cupboard – particularly bearing in mind that December doth approacheth…
