Enrich the eclipse experience — especially the long, partial phases — with solar eclipse activities for the young and young at heart.

Of all the people who will view an eclipse — total or partial — many will be young. Young enough that you'll want to double- and triple-check their solar viewers before letting them look up at the Sun, and young enough, too, that you'll want other activities for them (and you!) as the Sun makes its way through the long partial phases. Not to mention, some will be young enough that this will be their very first eclipse, and you'll want to make every moment count!

Viewing the Eclipse with Kids

The first and simplest activity is to figure out how you're going to view the Sun during the eclipse.

Note: Don't look at the Sun directly or through anything other than safe solar viewers or No. 14 arc-welder's glass during the partial phases of the eclipse. It's completely safe to look at the blocked Sun during totality though.

With Eclipse Glasses

The easiest way to view the eclipse is to procure pairs of eclipse glasses. To make eclipse glasses safer and more comfortable for children to use, you can tape them onto a paper plate to create a face cover. Besides being fun to personalize, this can help keep the Sun out of wayward eyes, since sometimes very young children don't want to, or even know how to, look through glasses!

Have an adult cut out a slice of the plate to make room for the nose, then cut out holes for where you'll tape the solar glasses. (See step-by-step instructions here.) Give kids art materials such as markers and beads and enjoy the results!

Man models eclipse glasses attached to cut-out paper plate
A man models a pair of eclipse glasses attached to a cut-out paper plate for comfortable viewing of the Sun.
My NASA Data

Without Eclipse Glasses

If you aren't able to procure a pair of glasses, there are other options: Pinhole projectors works just as well, if not better, to view the Sun, and they come with the side benefit that they only work when you face your back to the Sun — eye safety guaranteed!

Find a cereal box, scissors, some tin foil, a pushpin or toothpick, and tape, and you'll have everything you need to make a pinhole projector to view the solar eclipse. Then, on eclipse day, you'll face your back to the Sun and let sunlight stream over your shoulder, through the small hole, and into the box. On an ordinary day, you'd see a circle the same shape as your hole. But on eclipse day, you'll see that that hole is actually casting a projected view of the Sun itself — so a partially eclipsed Sun will appear as a crescent.

Pinhole projection via shoebox
You can use a shoebox to create a simple pinhole projector. Tape a piece of paper on the inside of one end, then cut two holes in the other end, one for looking into and one for creating the actual pinhole. As sunlight streams through the pinhole, it will create an image of the eclipsed Sun on the paper. (Note that you'll want to put the lid on the box to ensure it's dark enough to clearly see the Sun's image.)
Leah Tiscione / Sky & Telescope

For step by step instructions in making a pinhole projector using a cereal box, watch NASA's video:

The reason that the pinhole projectors are often made using a box is to create a darker environment for better viewing of the Sun's image. But you can just as easily create a pinhole projector using two pieces of paper. Poke a hole in one paper, then let the Sun shine through the hole onto the second paper.

Other manmade objects can make for great pinhole projectors, including colanders and even Ritz crackers:

At the suggestion of fellow traveler Heuionalai "Meph" Wyeth, S&T Contributing Editor Jim Bell discovered that, indeed, an ordinary Ritz cracker provides a wonderful pinhole camera for viewing projected images of the crescent Sun.
Jim Bell

Indeed, why stop with one projection of the solar eclipse when you can create many? Sky & Telescope Contributing Editor Emily Lakdawalla took things one step further, going to town with that pushpin to create works of eclipse art. Find Lakdawalla's full set of instructions at The Planetary Society's website.

A Sky & Telescope reader created this eclipse art to represent Einstein's field equation that describes his theory of general relativity. The circular holes in one piece of paper (not shown) project the crescent-shaped Sun onto this piece of paper.
Daniel Burns / S&T Online Photo Gallery

You might also find nature making its own works of art. Take a moment during the partial phases to hunt for crescent Suns in the shade of trees or bushes around you.

The dappled light in the shadows of trees and bushes can be a great place to spot the crescents of nature's pinhole projectors.
Susan / S&T Online Photo Gallery

Make Your Own Totality Prediction

If you're in the path of totality, and the kids with you are old enough, you might talk with them about the corona — the ethereal outer atmosphere of the Sun that humans can't see for themselves at any time except during a total solar eclipse.

The appearance of the Sun's atmosphere changes constantly depending on what the Sun's magnetic field is doing, and while scientists will make predictions as to the corona's appearance, everyone will experience it differently according to their eye's response.

Have kids predict what they'll see with a bit of chalk. NASA has full instructions here, but the best part of this project is that it's so simple.

Place a glass, pail, or other cylindrical object upside down on a piece of black or dark blue paper and trace the cylinder's outline with a thick line of chalk. Then, being careful not to move the cylinder, smear the chalk outward. Remove the cylinder and — voilà! — you've drawn your own version of the solar corona.

Get Moving: Act It Out

If the kids, especially the younger ones, are getting antsy, make a game of it and have them act out a solar eclipse. In a group of three, have one person each identify as the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Then, after asking the Sun and Earth to stay (relatively) still, direct the Moon to walk between the Sun and Earth. They can all take turns as Earth, relating what they see as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun.

For older children, you can add the additional complexity of orbits: have the Moon walk around Earth as Earth walks around the Sun. Switch it up by asking the kids what will happen if there's a lunar eclipse instead of a solar eclipse — the results may be entertaining!

Visit the Library

Thousands of libraries will be hosting special eclipse-day events. In addition to activities for the young and young at heart, they'll have knowledgeable people in attendance who can answer any questions that come up during the event.

I can tell you from personal experience that, even if you're not in the path of totality, this won't be an event that you — or the kids you're with — will soon forget.


For more eclipse information and resources, visit our Total Solar Eclipse 2024 portal!

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