5 solar eclipse activities to do with children

If you’re planning to enjoy the total solar eclipse on April 8 with your kids, here are some things you can do before and during the eclipse to help them understand what causes it and get the most out of the experience. Here are some activities. .

1. Build an Eclipse viewer

The day before the solar eclipse, you and your kids can get excited about this big event by creating a solar eclipse viewer. There are several ways to do this. The first method is a simple pinhole camera that uses two sheets of paper. Cut a hole in a piece of paper and cover it with aluminum foil, then cut a small hole in the foil. On the day of the eclipse, when he holds up a piece of paper and shines the sun’s rays through the hole, a version of the eclipse is projected onto his second piece of paper, which he places on the ground.

For a slightly more complicated version, place a piece of paper on one end of a cereal or shoe box and cut two holes in the other end. Place a piece of tin foil over one of the two holes and re-drill it to allow sunlight to pass through. More information on how to create both versions can be found here.

solar eclipse 2024

On April 8th, a total solar eclipse will pass over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Our special series covers everything you need to know, from how and when to see a solar eclipse to the strangest solar eclipse experience of all time.

2. Build a solar eclipse model

Another activity you can do before a solar eclipse is to build or act out models of the sun, moon, and earth to understand what a solar eclipse is. All you need to assemble is 3 sticks and his 3 balls to place on the sticks. You can paint and color them to look like the sun, moon, and earth. Make sure the sun is bigger than the moon. You can then show your children what a solar eclipse looks like by placing the sun in the center and moving the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth. A solar eclipse occurs when these three lines line up and the moon moves between the sun and the earth. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.

Children can also act out a solar eclipse. Of them, she will give one person a flashlight or flashlight to play the role of the sun and ask them to shine the flashlight on the wall. The other person is the moon, which can move around until it blocks the light of the torch. Both children can play with moving back and forth to show why the distance between the Moon, Earth, and Sun is important when it comes to solar eclipses.

3. Pop balloons using sunlight

This can be done on any sunny day. But on days when you’re waiting for a total solar eclipse, you can show your kids how to pop balloons using the power of sunlight. This activity requires balloons and a magnifying glass. Inflate the balloon and then hold a magnifying glass over it to magnify the sunlight hitting the balloon. Wait a few minutes and the balloon will eventually pop. Do the same trick by inflating a white balloon inside a black balloon for an even more exciting atmosphere. The black balloon pops, leaving the white balloon inside intact. You can use this to explain how dark surfaces absorb sunlight and light surfaces reflect sunlight.

4. Play with the shadows

On the day of the solar eclipse, a partial solar eclipse phase will last for several hours while we wait for the total solar eclipse. Parents and children can enjoy the solar eclipse by watching and playing with the changes in the shadow. If you have trees nearby, observe the shadows they cast on the ground during the eclipse and you’ll notice that they begin to look like the sun has been bitten. This also works by crossing your fingers and casting a shadow on the ground. Another way to view the eclipse through the shadows is to use a colander or something with small holes. As the eclipse progresses, the shadow begins to take on the shape of the eclipse. You can punch a series of holes in the paper and spell out a word or your child’s name in the shape of a crescent moon.

5. Draw a shadow

This is another activity you can do during the time before and after totality, again making the most of the interesting shadows created by the partially eclipsed Sun. Place a large piece of white paper or sheet on the ground and ask the children to draw the shadows cast by different objects. If you do this at the beginning of the partial phase, and again when everyone is already close, you will be able to see how these shadows change as the eclipse progresses. By now you should have noticed that as the amount of light around you decreases, the shadows become more distinct.