If you're like us, you've been talking a lot about the solar eclipse that will happen on August 21. The last total solar eclipse that was visible from the U.S. happened in 1979, so this is an exciting day! It's also a chance to share a memorable, teachable moment with your child.
To help get your child ready to experience the eclipse on Monday, we've pulled together some of our top materials to spark conversations and learning in your home:
Start with this DIY project from Scholastic Parents: Make a solar eclipse viewer from a shoebox!
Then, try some of these seven activities to get kids excited. With your child, identify when the best time to view the eclipse will be, make sure you have proper glasses (or your shoebox eclipse viewer!), test the power of the sun's energy while the eclipse is happening, and more!
Next, it's time to explain the science behind the experience. Our Scholastic Teachers team has created some classroom-ready resources including fun facts about eclipses (did you know syzygy is the word for when three celestial bodies align?) and more! Here are some more resources to use to teach your child about space using The Magic School Bus!
Once the eclipse is over, keep your child's interest in space going by sharing these books!
- Fly Guy Presents: Space (Scholastic Reader, Level 2) by Tedd Arnold
Perfect for 4- to 8-year-olds, in this reader, the beloved Fly Guy and Buzz visit a space msueum where they learn about planets, space craft, space suits, and more!
- Space Dumplins by Craig Thompson
This brilliant, quirky graphic novel for 8- to 12-year-olds follows Violet Marlocke who sets out on a quest across the galaxy to find her missing father.
- The Golden Lion (Cleopatra in Space #4) by Mike Maihack
In this graphic novel series by Mike Maihack for 8- to 12-year-olds, young Cleopatra travels far, FAR in the future!
- Lost in Outer Space (Lost #2) by Tod Olson
This nonfiction book for 8- to 12-year-olds tells the incredible true story of the doomed Apollo 13 moon mission that nearly ended in disaster.