5 Best Telescopes for Kids
Want to give them the moon? These beginner telescopes are good for the whole family.
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Children love looking up at the stars and imagining distant galaxies, but with just their eyes, they can only see so much. Telescopes for kids can help them explore stars and planets, stimulating their imagination and firing their curiosity.
Telescopes work by using a lens or curved mirror to gather and focus light from the sky so you can see the stars and planets more clearly. The ability to collect light is related to the diameter of the lens or mirror (a.k.a aperture); the larger the aperture, the more detail you can see.
Best Deal
Pros
- Reasonable price
- Clear images of the moon or wildlife
- Includes tripod and bag
Cons
- Tripod can be a little wobbly
Best for: Families to use together.
What to know: Celestron makes many highly rated telescopes. This model, on the lower end for power and price, has thousands of Amazon reviews for being easy to set up and use. Reviewers say they use it for clear images of the moon above and wildlife on land, such as birds. Just remember that an image in a refractor telescope is upside-down, which might be funny if your family is using it to look at animals!
This has a 70mm aperture and comes with two eye pieces (20mm and 10mm) to see celestial objects more clearly. A tripod that can stretch to 52 inches tall and carrying bag are also included for easy toting on a camping trip or other adventure.
Online reviewers say that if your kid bumps the tripod while trying to look through the telescope, you can expect some wobble. If your family is committed to making stargazing a habit and you're willing to spend more in the $300 range, the brand has a 102mm AstroMaster that gets better reviews for stability as well as clarity.
| Ages | We suggest 5+ with help, ages 10+ on their own |
| Aperture | 70mm |
| Weight | 4.2 lbs |
Pros
- Under $40
- Easy-to-understand instructions
- Uncomplicated design
Cons
- Smaller aperture makes this less powerful
Best for: Inexpensive amateur stargazing.
What to know: This pick is less than $35 and has an uncomplicated design. The 40mm aperture helps kids see the sky more clearly, or lets them zoom in on animals or birds on earth, but it's the least powerful on our list.
Reviewers say this is the “perfect beginner telescope” with fairly clear instructions, making it easy to use. The short tripod has to sit on a tabletop, like on a picnic table. It includes a moon mirror to help reduce glare when viewing the moon, plus a built-in compass to analyze the stars more easily.
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| Ages | We suggest 6+ with help, ages 10+ on their own |
| Aperture | 40mm |
| Weight | 2.2 lbs |
Pros
- Made for kids ages 7 and up to use themselves
- 24-page activity journal included
- Two eyepieces, for 10x or 50x magnification
Cons
- Might feel too much like a toy to some
Best for: Kids to try on their own.
What to know: If your kid wants to operate it all on their own, this is for them. It's a telescope that kids ages 7 and up can use themselves. It comes with a 24-page activity journal that can spark ideas for using this in both daytime and nighttime.
There's manual focus and a collapsible tripod with this telescope. It comes with two magnifying eyepieces, one that brings objects 10 times closer (which is similar to binoculars) and one that brings them 50 times closer.
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Features at a Glance
| Ages | 7+ |
| Aperture | Not specified |
| Weight | 2 lbs |
Pros
- Step up in power for bigger kids
- Phone adaptor for snapping images of magnified objects
- Eyepieces in 24X, 60X,120X and one 3x Barlow lens
Cons
- Heaviest and priciest on our list
Best for: Middle schoolers and high schoolers.
What to know: This could light a fire in an astronomy-minded older kid. Tweens or teens who are ready to take a step up in power and precision may appreciate this one with a 90mm aperture. It's got a smart phone adaptor that lets you use your phone as a camera to take photos of a magnified object with the help of a remote-control shutter-release button so you don't get a shaky picture.
This comes with three eyepieces for 24-, 60-, and 120-times magnification, plus one 3x Barlow lens that triples the magnifying power of each eyepiece. Reviewers praise it for taking a look at other planets, though reviews are mixed about whether it's powerful enough to see distant galaxies.
It's heavy, but that helps it hold still. The tripod can stretch up to 49 inches tall. Reviewers praise its "solid quality."
| Ages | We suggest 10+ |
| Aperture | 90mm |
| Weight | 18 lbs |
Pros
- For young space fans ages 4+ to play with
- Talking telescope teaches hundreds of facts
- Beautiful images and videos
Cons
- Just a toy, not a real working telescope
Best for: Little kids who want to learn about space.
What to know: This is a toy for preschoolers ages 4 and up who want to learn facts about space right now, are asleep by nighttime, and who honestly might be less impressed with viewing the real moon than a slide about the moon at their young age.
Expect more than 100 images and videos, many from NASA, plus a couple of hundred facts. Your child can even quiz themselves if they want. The brand has a similar talking microscope that is a bestseller on our list of the best gifts for kids. Requires 3 AA batteries
| Ages | 4+ |
| Aperture | N/A |
| Weight | 1.5 lbs |
How we chose the best kids telescopes
We understand that most families are not looking to spend $500 on a telescope for kids ages 6, 7, or even 10, so we narrowed our search to five affordable options.
We first chose telescopes we've tested with kids and parents, which tend toward the toy-like ones. The more sophisticated picks on our list are from credible brands that we trust that have had telescopes out for at least five years, garnering positive online reviews from families nationwide.
What to look for when shopping for a kids' telescope
Telescopes are available in three types:
✔️ Refractor telescopes are the most common type of telescope for kids and the most affordable. A long tube attached to a lens magnifies objects in the sky or on the ground.
✔️ Reflector telescopes use a curved mirror instead of a lens for greater clarity and quality with clearer views of the sky than refractor telescopes, but cannot be used to magnify objects on earth.
✔️ Compound telescopes combine the best of both refractor and reflector telescopes as they have both lenses and mirrors to see clearly images in space and earth side. These cost thousands of dollars and are not suitable for children.
All of our picks are refractor telescopes. Those are best for affordable home use for families. The images you see in a refractor telescope are upside-down, unless there's a mirror inside to correct it. That's normal and not a product defect!
For teenagers or youth ready to study astronomy, NASA publishes a detailed guide to the current night sky that helps them understand what stars and planets are out on any given night.
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Contributing Writer Jessica Hartshorn, a mom of two, wrote the most recent version of this article. She was previously at Parents magazine and now helps GH cover products for kids and parents, and is a judge for the Best Toy Awards and the Parenting Awards. Textiles, Paper & Apparel Lab Associate Director Emma Seymour, a graduate of Cornell University, did additional research for this story.
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