Solar Eclipse Fun

 I always forget how exhausting the first week of school is.  Our bodies are just not used to getting up and going all day compared to the relaxing days of summer.  Anyone else out there celebrating that they survived the first week?  I'm pooped.

Anywho, on Friday, I posted a tutorial in my instagram story on how to make an eclipse viewer for Monday.  The whole plan was to make these with Ethan's class and go out and watch it through a viewer thingy that my friend's dad has.  It was going to be this super fun 2 class activity with the third graders.  Everyone was so excited. . . until after school on Friday, when we discovered our district was putting kids on lock down during the eclipse hours.  Super sad face here because it was going to be so much fun and what better way to get kids excited about space.  Now, we are just taking our kids out of school so they can watch it with the viewer, special glasses, and make their own pin hole viewer. 

Ethan is super into science this year and is so excited about the eclipse.  It's kind of a fun, out of the ordinary, day that we plan on having fun with. 

Here's the super easy pin hole viewer tutorial.  If you don't want to cover it with wax paper, you can skip the last step and have them stand backwards with the cup over their head, pinhole facing the sun.  Have them stand facing a garage or fence and they will see the image on the surface they are facing. You can also use card stock, if you aren't using a cup and wax paper.  There are tons of options. 

For this particular viewer, you will need:

1 paper cup

wax paper

pin

rubber band

 To start, turn the cup upside down so the bottom is facing you.  Stick the pin into the cup and poke it through. . . try to keep it somewhere around the center.

 Then, without crinkling your wax paper, lay it over the mouth of the cup and slip the rubber band around it.  This part is completely optional.  The image of the sun will be inverted through the pin and onto the wax paper.  So, you won't be looking at the sun, but at the wax paper.  If you are concerned about your child's eyes with even that, just omit the wax paper step or use a piece of cardstock, stick a hole in it, and hold it up above their heads with the pinhole facing the sun and their bodies facing the opposite direction.  Then see it on the garage door or fence or driveway.  It's pretty cool! 

This is just an easy way to help make the eclipse viewing fun for your family. 

If you are curious about whether or not it really is safe for your kids to view the eclipse, I recommend this post.

There are some really cool facts about the solar eclipse on this website. 

Check your local news stations for when the eclipse is happening in your town.  We are a little over 700 miles from the total eclipse line, so we only get the partial.  It will still be super cool!

Also. . . what ever you do, don't try to take a picture with your phone or camera of the eclipse. . . leave that for the professionals. . . it will hurt your camera. 

Have fun!