Skip to main content

Solar Eclipse Activities for Kids

On April 8th a solar eclipse is going to occur over North America. The 120-mile-long path of totality will touch 15 U.S. states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun's light and causing a shadow to be cast upon the Earth. For a solar eclipse to occur, the sun, the moon, and the Earth have to be in perfect alignment.

Below are some activities and learning resources to help you prepare your kids for the upcoming solar eclipse.




Solar Eclipse Activities for Kids

Printable Eclipse Activity Pack
My printable Eclipse Activity Pack includes diagrams, reading sheets, vocabulary words, a crossword puzzle, an eclipse journaling sheet, 2 flip books, a cut and paste paper eclipse model, and more! Grab it here: Printable Eclipse Activity Pack.



Solar Eclipse Videos

•Solar Eclipse 101 from National Geographic


•What is a Solar Eclipse? from NASA Space Place

•Solar Eclipse Facts for Kids from Homeschool Pop


Solar Eclipse Books

•Who HQ: What is a Solar Eclipse by Dana Meachen Rau

•Who Turned Off the Sun by Lisa Combs

•Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science by Jeffrey Bennett


Websites





Make a Pinhole Viewer
To make a pinhole viewer you will need:
-a piece of cardstock, cut in half, or two small pieces of cardboard
-a thumbtack

Poke a hole in the center of one of the pieces of cardstock using the thumbtack. Make sure the hole is round and smooth. Hold the piece of cardstock with the hole. Position it so that the sun shines directly onto it and through the hole. Position the second piece of cardstock a little way below the first piece of cardstock, so that the sun shines through the hole in the first piece, projecting an image onto the second piece.

Check out this video from SciShow Kids for video instructions: Make an Eclipse Viewer

This video from NASA Goddard has instructions for another type of pinhole viewer: How to Make a Box Pinhole Viewer



Build an Eclipse Model
Try building a model of an eclipse. Follow the instructions on one of the links below or get creative and come up with your own way to make a model.

•Solar Eclipse Model DIY from Generation Genius: this model uses a yard stick, clay balls, toothpicks, and paper clips.

•How to Make a Solar Eclipse Model from BBC Sky at Night Magazine: this model uses a beach ball, a smaller ball, and a lamp or flashlight.


Solar Eclipse Art and Craft Activities 
If you're a crafty family, check out the solar eclipse themed art and craft activities below.

•Solar eclipse chalk art
You will need two pieces of black construction paper, a pencil, white chalk, scissors, glue, and something round to trace.

Trace a circle onto both pieces of construction paper using a pencil. We traced an old oat container to make ours.



Cut out one of the circles and set it aside.



Trace the other circle with white chalk.



Use your finger to spread the chalk outward from the circle.



Clean the chalk off your fingers, then glue the cut out black circle in the center of the chalk circle.



•Make an eclipse flip book: try making an eclipse flip book by drawing the progression of an eclipse on small pieces of cardstock. Stack them in order, fasten them together, and then flip through!





If you prefer a printable version, I have a solar eclipse flip book in my printable solar eclipse activity pack, available here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Eclipse-Activity-and-Learning-Pack-11243993





If you enjoyed this post, check out:




Follow me on





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo...
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill ...
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -sever...
5 comments
Read more