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Navigating with the stars

Learn how to navigate with the stars before going outside and trying your new skills

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You’ll need

  • Access to the internet
  • Access to a computer
  • Device with access to the internet

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.   
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.

Planning and setting up this activity

  • If you’re going outside for this activity, make sure everyone brings appropriate clothing and footwear for the weather.
  • Print out some star maps which show how to find the north star, with enough for one per group. You could also use a computer to look at some online star maps. You could use programme such as the SkyLive, Sky Map Online, Stellaruim Web or Astronomy now.

Finding the North Star

  1. Gather everyone together and ask if anyone knows what the North Star is.
  2. Explain that the North Star is also known as Polaris. It sits more or less directly above Earth’s north pole. Some stars travel a great distance over the course of the night. However, Polaris always stays in roughly the same place in the sky, and therefore it’s a reliable way to find the direction of north. It would appear directly overhead if you stood at the north pole, but farther south, it indicated the direction of north. The North Star isn’t the brightest star in the sky, but it’s usually not hard to spot, even from the city. (Source: NASA, 2025)
  3. Ask everyone to get into small groups. Each group should have a copy of the star map.
  4. Point out some key features for the groups to find. You could see if anyone can identify any constellations, stars or planets.
  5. Explain that because we’re in the Northern Hemisphere, we can find and use the north star to help us navigate. 
  6. Firstly, ask everyone to find Ursa Major. This constellation has seven stars and looks like a saucepan. This is also known as the Big Dipper or the Plough.
  7. When they’ve found it, ask them to identify the ‘cup’ part of the constellation.  The two stars on the end of the Dipper’s ‘cup’ point the way to Polaris.
  8. Make sure everyone has found the correct stars and they’re not looking at the star at the end of the pan handle.
  9. From these stars, ask everyone to imagine a straight line, following the same direction as the star they have their finger on. 
  10. They should follow the line should to the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper, or the tail of the little bear in the constellation Ursa Minor. It’s a bright star that looks like it doesn’t have many other stars around it. This is the North star. 
  11. Explain that this star lies directly above the north pole and stays in one place, so it can always be used to find north in the Northern Hemisphere.
  12. When everyone’s found the North Star, ask the groups to look at the other constellations around them.
  13. Ask everyone if there are any other constellations that could help them identify the North Star. We’ve included some on this page.
  14. If you can, go outside and practise spotting the North Star, as well as other constellations. 

Other ways to navigate:

If Ursa Major is partially hidden or too low on the horizon, you can use Cassiopeia to help find the north star. This constellation looks like a large ‘W’. To use Cassiopeia, find the left most star in the W, and draw an imaginary line straight up towards the bright star. 

If you can partially see Ursa Major you can use the pan handle to help find the North Star. Draw a line between the left star of the W and the second star along the pan handle, in between these two stars you’ll find the north star. 

The constellation Orion can help you find east and west. This is because it rises in the east and sets in the west. To find Orion, look for three stars in the sky that are in a straight line. This is Orion’s Belt, and the three stars to help you navigate. The first star, on the left of the belt, is the best to use as this rises and sets within one degree of true east and west wherever you are in the world. This star is called Mintaka.

To find south you need to locate Ursa Minor, which is also known as the ‘Little Plough’, ‘Little Bear’ or the ‘Little Dipper’. Find the final star in Ursa Minor pan handle. Draw an imaginary line from this star to the horizon. The point where it the line meets the horizon is south. 

Reflection

This activity gave everyone the opportunity to discover more about the stars and constellations, as well as find out how to use them to navigate. Did you know how to find the north star before this activity? Did you learn about any new constellations while looking at the star map or the sky? How easy was the north star to find? Did you help anyone who couldn’t find the north star?

Now you can find the north star, do you think you will use it for navigation in the future? How could knowing how to navigate using the stars help in an emergency? 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Visits away from your meeting place

Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts. 

Online safety

Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scouts Space Activity Badge

Now you’ve looked at the stars, why not have a go at making a star map?