Choosing Telescopes for Kids

Been thinking about the types of telescopes suitable for little children. The more I think about it, the lesser sense it makes to try and classify telescopes in that way. Obviously, all telescopes come with a varying set of technical specifications. However these specification sets are not correlated to the user’s age. Specifications should correlate to purpose of use and quality. 

OK, so all that rant aside – there are still some telescopes that are more suited to little children. For starters, some telescopes don’t sit in our ‘suitable for children’ checklist – the Cassegrain is one of them. The good ones tend to be bulky and sometimes complicated for young kids who are especially new to astronomy. When one is familiar with navigating the night sky and have more knowledge on how telescopes work – a cassegrain is a great step up, and can even become a good investment for astrophotography. 

I’d also rule out scopes that are fitted with Equatorial Mounts for the young and those new to astronomy. Equatorial mounts can be different to learn with in the beginning – and an adult familiar with telescopes is also needed around to help with the alignment of telescopes and with the heavy counter weights. 

The best scopes for kids are table top dobsonians and reflector telescopes that sit on an Alt-Azimuth mount. Table Top Dobsonians may be small by they still boast a large enough aperture for casual sky viewing. The size also makes it manageable for young children – giving them full ability to slew or change eyepieces all by themselves. 

Also consider Refractor Telescopes – Unlike reflecting scopes, Refractors have eyepieces that sit right at the bottom of the tube. This makes it reachable for young kids. Will suit children 6-12 years very well. 

That’s just my two cents on telescopes for kids. But my first philosophy still stands. Get a telescope that fits the needs of your child. If he / she loves looking at the moon in detail, a 5-inch Dobsonian can do that well, minus a hefty price tag. 🙂 

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