December 21 is the longest night of the year. Want a great way to celebrate the winter solstice? Check out some fun things you can do while earning your Cadette Night Owl badge!

• Take a field trip to a planetarium to observe the stars in the night sky.
• With an adult, safely tour your neighborhood at night to investigate the different shapes and sounds after dark.
• Meet someone who works a night shift, like a baker, security guard, or grocery store worker.
• Sketch a midnight garden, full of night-blooming flowers or ones that shimmer in the moonlight.
• Explore which animals are nocturnal—they only come out at night.
• Host a “power down” night, three hours without electricity in your house to see what it was like to live during the pioneer days.
• Find out more about winter solstice. What happens with the Earth and sun to make it the shortest day of the year? How do different cultures celebrate this day? Which ancient structures or astronomical observatories were built to observe celestial events throughout the year? For example, Ireland’s Newgrange is a stone structure, built around 5,000 years ago, and constructed so that a bright ray of sunlight shines directly into the chamber only once a year, during the dawn of winter solstice!

Grow your imagination by turning out the lights, tuning in your senses, and stepping out into the night!