Solar Eclipse Activities for Kids

If you’re reading this when I wrote this, the United States is gearing up for a solar eclipse, but even if you’re reading it later, these solar eclipse activities are a lot of fun to add to space unit or to celebrate some future eclipse elsewhere in the world.

For the 2024 eclipse, you can learn about where and when the eclipse will happen from NASA’s website.

There are actually two different kinds of solar eclipses, partial and full, but they both happen because the moon blocks the sun form view (either partially or completely). If you happen to be where the eclipse is in totality, it will get completely dark. Otherwise, the moon will block most of the sun and make really cool crescent-shaped shadows.

It’s worth noting that either way you don’t want to look directly at the sun during an eclipse because it can permanently damage your vision. (These are the glasses I bought; where I live will be 98.5 percent totality so we’re still going to enjoy it. Check the list at NASA for approved suppliers.)

No matter where you are its super fun to talk about and learn about eclipses. That Bald Chick has a good set of printables that talk about what an eclipse is and includes matching, journaling and a word search activity.

Kindergarten Smorgasbord has a free emergent reader printable book on Teachers Pay Teachers, and for older kids you can download diagrams explaining how an eclipse works and discussion questions (these are from SURFF DOGGY on TpT).

Simple Living Creative Learning has a great printable pack for if you are somewhere you can observe the eclipse, total or not. It includes a diagram to label, fill in the blank fact sheets, a word search and a page for kids to write about their experience with the eclipse.

If you will be where the eclipse is happening, you might also want to make a pinhole viewer, which you can do with instructions from Little Cooks Reading Books.

Learning Resources has a printable page you can color and cut out to illustrate what happens during an eclipse, as well as a word search and maze.

Make a glow-in-the-dark eclipse T-shirt with these instructions from Homeschool Superfreak. And make some super simple eclipse cookies with this recipe from The Newlywed Chefs.

Explore the Eclipse with the National Parks Service

Build a Solar System Model with Quilling

Make a Simple Solar System Bracelet

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?

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