I remembered another astronomy activity we (successfully!) did with the kids, though it's not observing. The activity is described by Guy Ottewell in this book "The Thousand-Yard Model, or, The Earth as a Peppercorn". (https://www.universalworkshop.com/gu...-a-peppercorn/ also some version on Amazon, though their pricing is massively weird for this item.)
It is a demonstration of size versus space for our solar system. The activity leader places scale objects to represent the Sun and our planets over a 1000 yard walk to give a sense of large space is. My wife did the activity several times. Once with our kids for practice, again with one of the kid's 5th or 6th grade class, and also with a Girl Scout troop. Someone, probably Professor Ottewell, said they always do it early in their college intro to astronomy class and even new grad student TAs appreciate the perspective it provides.
Remembering my struggle with similar goals and knowing how quickly a budget is used up, I would suggest you start with:Originally Posted by Stan Calow
- Planisphere (for 40-degrees latitude, or 30-50, or similar, any full-size / large one.)
- The Bright Star Atlas, by Wil Tirion & Brian Skiff
- one of the H.A. Rey books, probably The Stars
- Turn Left at Orion, by Guy Consolmagno & Dan M. Davis
and a decent set of binoculars. (Looking at Orion Telescope, I'm disappointed in the starter binocular selection they have. The one I'd choose of theirs is the Orion UltraView 8x42 Wide-Angle Binoculars. We have (a 30 year-old version) and it is very nice for casual observing, works really well with glasses on, and doesn't explode your budget right off the bat.) Any binocular of the 7x35 or 8x40 size should work for you though.
That starter set will give you enough to get an idea of how you'll like this activity and which aspects you are interested in. Learn a little bit, add a green laser pointer, and maybe some cheaper 7x35 binoculars to share and you'll be able to lead the Grandkids on observing tours.
If all that goes well, you'll then be more knowledgeable, and will have even developed some likes & dislikes, when you continue shopping for a telescope. (And maybe you'll have rolled into a new budget year!)
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