Involve kids with activities, easy explanations
With many schools in the U.S. closing Monday for the total eclipse, parents are left looking for ways to keep their kids busy and searching for ideas for how to make the day fun. We’ve gathered some stellar leads and guidance on talking to kids about what
Activities for kids
There were some creative ideas that surfaced during the 2017 solar eclipse that more families are trying out this time around. Here are a few of them:
Create sun prints
Scholastic has a fun art project kids can engage in ahead of the eclipse.
“Human eyes can’t see ultraviolet light, but using construction paper, kids can create sun prints to see for themselves how the sun’s powerful UV rays break down dyes and bleach paper,” Scholastic shares.
You will need:
⬤ Colorful construction paper
⬤ Clear plastic wrap, or a large piece of plexiglass
⬤ Leaves, flowers, plants or other flat items
⬤ Small rocks to use as weights
Instructions
Put the paper on a flat surface (such as the driveway or sidewalk) outside in the sunlight. Have the kids use the natural items to make a design on the paper. Cover the paper and items with the plastic wrap or plexigass, using the rocks in the corners to keep it in place. Leave the project in the sun for a few hours. Then, have the kids remove the wrap and natural items from the paper to see the design they’ve created.
Re-create a solar eclipse at home
A fun way to keep your kids busy and also increase their understanding around how a solar eclipse works is by creating your own eclipse at home.
Multiple blogs suggest using a large ball to represent Earth, a smaller ball (such as a tennis ball) to represent the moon and a flashlight to represent the sun.
McGraw Hill says in a dim room, have one person hold the large ball while another shines the flashlight at it. Another person then moves the smaller ball between the two. Watch the shadow it makes on “Earth.”