Monday is the Eclipse!

I love eclipses of any kind and meteor showers. I'm the crazy one who stays up late or gets up early to see the event, even if I have to be wrapped up in blankets. I try to capture it on camera, mostly missing the meteors, but I have gotten one or two. So, of course, I am really excited about the eclipse on Monday. We are close to the path of totality and will be driving to see it.

One of my favorite memories of grade school is making a solar eclipse viewer. I think it must have been for a partial eclipse. The memories of making the viewer and seeing it, have stuck with me through the years. The kids' school has let the off on Monday, so we'll be watching it together.

I bought my solar eclipse glasses when there was a partial one not too long ago. Some stores still have them, but in case you can't find any eclipse glasses, you can make your own viewer. There are two different types: the shoebox viewer and the pinhole viewer. Both will work, you just need to have foil and a shoebox for the one, and only white cardboard or thick paper for the other. Here are some sites with great instructions on how to make them: Shoebox viewer instructions, Pin hole viewer.

FUN ECLIPSE SNACKS:
If you are having a viewing party (or like me, just want an excuse to have some extra sweets), here are a few cute snacks ideas:

• Galaxy Cookies: Similar to my Christmas swirl cookies, but use blue and white dough. You could also lightly brush the outside of the chilled cookie dough with water, roll in purple/blue/white nonpareil sprinkles, slice, and bake, for an extra fun cookie.
• The sun or moon is pretty easy to add in icing or fondant to a cookie, cupcake, or cake.
• Cut fruits and veggies into star or moon shapes.
• The moon is made of cheese, right? Have cheese slices or make a cheese pizza (for your meat lovers, add pepperoni "craters").
• Make solar themed chocolates (sun, moon, stars, etc.). Amazon has some cute molds (stars/moon, star candies, star lollipops, sun glasses aka eclipse glasses) although local craft stores like Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics usually have star molds.
• Galaxy/Eclipse Popcorn: Similar to the Valentine's Candied Popcorn, but use a mix of blues, purple, black, and white candy melt/chocolates. Use star, moon, and sun shaped sprinkles, or even just yellow sprinkles for the sun.
• Chocolate dipped Oreos (regular or mini sized). I'm working on dipping them today. I plan on making a display out of them: full sun (all yellow Oreo), partial eclipse (half yellow, half black Oreo), 90% eclipse (since that's about what we'll see), full eclipse (all black dipped Oreo).

• Instead of Oreos, you could also do it with round pretzels. Dip pretzel in melted chocolates or Candy Melts, set on wax paper, fill in the hole using a spoon or piping bag.
• Sugar cookies. It's hard to go wrong with cookies! You could made sun shaped cookies, moon shaped cookies, earth themed cookies, half yellow/half black cookies for the eclipse. There are so many options! And now I want cookies...
• Pancakes: Pipe pancakes in the shape of a sun (circle with rays).
• Easy Solar system themed foods (anything with sun, moon, orbit, galaxy, etc. might work): 
• CapriSun
• SunnyD
• Sunkist
• Eclipse Gum
• Milky Way candy bars
• Sun Chips
• Starbursts
• Moonpies
• Sunflower seeds
• Sun-Maid Raisins
• Skybar candy bar
• Space Goldfish (They used to have a space themed Goldfish, but I'm not sure if they still make it.)
• Freeze Dried/Astronaut ice cream (Amazon has on Prime, but can also find in camping section of stores and in some museum gift shops. I've even seen it at Michael's Crafts!)
• Ice cream: I've heard of Moon ice cream and Blue Moon ice cream.
• Krispy Kreme's Eclipse Donut, available Monday 8/21.
• Babybel cheese: peel off part of the wrapper.
• Mini Chips Ahoy: I think these kind of look like the moon with chocolate chip craters.
• Stretching it a little here, but Mars candy bars.
• Adults only: Blue Moon or Corona beer

FUN:

• ECLIPSE WORD FIND 
• Higgins was worried about still seeing the sun over the top of his glasses. I made him a face mask for the glasses out of a thick paper plate (these are official eclipse glasses, just with bonus coverage). I saw the idea on Facebook, and I think it will work out great! (see picture below for instructions)

• I thought it would be fun (and educational) for the boys to have an observation sheet for the eclipse in case they got to see it. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted online, so I made one this morning!

Click here for a printable PDF observation sheet.

• Shoebox viewer instructions, Pin hole viewer, video making shoebox video

Some of my favorite sites:

• EarthSky
• NASA Eclipse Safety
• NASA Live Streaming of Eclipse

NOTE: If you are lucky enough to be able to watch the eclipse, never look at the sun without the special eclipse glasses or eclipse filters for cameras/telescopes/binoculars.

Eclipse Word Find

Since the eclipse is coming up fast (Monday 8/21), I thought I would made an eclipse themed word find!

ANSWERS BELOW!

To Print: Right Click-Open image in new tab-Print or Ctrl-P. Or Right Click-Save/Save Image As/Save to Computer-Open the saved image-Print.

It's Almost Time for the Eclipse!!

I love eclipses of any kind and meteor showers. I'm the crazy one who stays up late or gets up early to see the event, even if I have to be wrapped up in blankets. I try to capture it on camera, mostly missing the meteors, but I have gotten one or two. The last lunar eclipse I managed to get a few fuzzy pictures, and I dragged the kids up a hill for the last partial solar eclipse. It was really cloudy that day, so we didn't really get to see it very long. So, of course, I am really excited about the eclipse on Monday. We are not in the totality path, only about 92-93% coverage, but I am still really excited.

Ok, not a solar eclipse. But it is the last lunar eclipse where I took a decent enough picture!

One of my favorite memories of grade school is making a solar eclipse viewer. I think it must have been for a partial eclipse. The memories of making the viewer and seeing it, have stuck with me through the years. I wish the boys' school was doing something for the event, but unfortunately only the older grades are allowed to view it. The rest of the school will have indoor recess with blinds drawn, although they can watch it on NASA's live streaming site.

Luckily, I already had my solar eclipse glasses. They are sold out everywhere around here and online prices have skyrocketed. If you still want to experience the eclipse, but can't find any eclipse glasses, you can make your own viewer. There are two different types: the shoebox viewer and the pinhole viewer. Both will work, you just need to have foil and a shoebox for the one, and only white cardboard or thick paper for the other. Here are some sites with great instructions on how to make them: Shoebox viewer instructions, Pin hole viewer.

FUN ECLIPSE SNACKS:
If you are having a viewing party (or like me, just want an excuse to have some extra sweets), here are a few cute snacks ideas:

• Galaxy Cookies: Similar to my Christmas swirl cookies, but use blue and white dough. You could also lightly brush the outside of the chilled cookie dough with water, roll in purple/blue/white nonpareil sprinkles, slice, and bake, for an extra fun cookie.
• The sun or moon is pretty easy to add in icing or fondant to a cookie, cupcake, or cake.
• Cut fruits and veggies into star or moon shapes.
• The moon is made of cheese, right? Have cheese slices or make a cheese pizza (for your meat lovers, add pepperoni "craters").
• Make solar themed chocolates (sun, moon, stars, etc.). Amazon has some cute molds (stars/moon, star candies, star lollipops, sun glasses aka eclipse glasses) although local craft stores like Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics usually have star molds.
• Galaxy/Eclipse Popcorn: Similar to the Valentine's Candied Popcorn, but use a mix of blues, purple, black, and white candy melt/chocolates. Use star, moon, and sun shaped sprinkles, or even just yellow sprinkles for the sun.
• Chocolate dipped Oreos (regular or mini sized). I'm working on dipping them today. I plan on making a display out of them: full sun (all yellow Oreo), partial eclipse (half yellow, half black Oreo), 90% eclipse (since that's about what we'll see), full eclipse (all black dipped Oreo).

• Instead of Oreos, you could also do it with round pretzels. Dip pretzel in melted chocolates or Candy Melts, set on wax paper, fill in the hole using a spoon or piping bag.
• Sugar cookies. It's hard to go wrong with cookies! You could made sun shaped cookies, moon shaped cookies, earth themed cookies, half yellow/half black cookies for the eclipse. There are so many options! And now I want cookies...
• Pancakes: Pipe pancakes in the shape of a sun (circle with rays).
• Easy Solar system themed foods (anything with sun, moon, orbit, galaxy, etc. might work):
• CapriSun
• SunnyD
• Sunkist
• Eclipse Gum
• Milky Way candy bars
• Sun Chips
• Starbursts
• Moonpies
• Sunflower seeds
• Sun-Maid Raisins
• Skybar candy bar
• Space Goldfish (They used to have a space themed Goldfish, but I'm not sure if they still make it.)
• Freeze Dried/Astronaut ice cream (Amazon has on Prime, but can also find in camping section of stores and in some museum gift shops. I've even seen it at Michael's Crafts!)
• Ice cream: I've heard of Moon ice cream and Blue Moon ice cream.
• Krispy Kreme's Eclipse Donut, available Monday 8/21.
• Babybel cheese: peel off part of the wrapper.
• Mini Chips Ahoy: I think these kind of look like the moon with chocolate chip craters.
• Stretching it a little here, but Mars candy bars.
• Adults only: Blue Moon or Corona beer

FUN:

• ECLIPSE WORD FIND 
• Higgins was worried about still seeing the sun over the top of his glasses. I made him a face mask for the glasses out of a thick paper plate. I saw the idea on Facebook, and I think it will work out great! (see picture below for instructions)

• I thought it would be fun (and educational) for the boys to have an observation sheet for the eclipse in case they got to see it. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted online, so I made one this morning!

• Shoebox viewer instructions, Pin hole viewer, video making shoebox video

Some of my favorite sites:

• EarthSky
• NASA Eclipse Safety
• NASA Live Streaming of Eclipse

NOTE: If you are lucky enough to be able to watch the eclipse, never look at the sun without the special eclipse glasses or eclipse filters for cameras/telescopes/binoculars.

It's Look Up At The Sky Day!

Today is Look Up At The Sky Day and we are going to spend part of the day looking up at the clouds. The boys like to see what shapes they can find, and it's fun to hear what they think the clouds look like. Most of the time, I don't see anything even close to what they see. Don't forget to look up at the sky at night too! There are some great constellations out there: Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Orion are my favorites (probably because they're the only ones I can usually find!).

What Do You See? Leave a Comment on what you see in the clouds! Not to stifle creativity, but I shared some of our interpretations. Do you see what we saw or something different? Share your thoughts in the Comments!

1. Me: Bird, Bernardo: Pteradactyl

2. We all agreed on a Whale

3. Me: Ghost, Bernardo: Ghosts with little kid ghosts

4. Me: I have no idea, Bernardo: Shark (right) chasing a boat (on left), Higgins: Something chasing something

5. Me: Fighter plane, Bernardo: A ship with a cannon

A Few Facts About Clouds:

• Clouds are made up of water or ice crystals.
• Clouds look white because they reflect the sun.
• The wind moves the clouds.
• Cirrus clouds are clouds high in the air. They are thin and wispy.
• Cumulus clouds look like cotton. They are fluffy and white.
• Stratus clouds are thick and flat. They often appear before a storm.



Chart of clouds I found online

• Cumulonimbus clouds indicate thunderstorms. The tops are flat and have an anvil shape. Sometimes, you can tell which way the storm is going by looking at where the anvil points.

For more information, try these sites:

• http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/constellations.htm. This site allows you to choose the month and hour to print a constellation map!
• http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/15-science/102-star-a-constellations.html
• Check out EarthSky.org for any upcoming meteor showers or eclipses. 

It's A Dog, No It's A Dragon, No It's A Plane! It's Look Up At The Sky Day!

 

Today is Look Up At The Sky Day and we are going to spend part of the day looking up at the clouds. The boys like to see what shapes they can find, and it's usually amusing to hear what they think the cloud looks like. Most of the time, I don't see anything even close to what they see.

What Do You See? Leave a Comment on what you see in the clouds! Not to stifle creativity, but I shared some of our interpretations. Do you see what we saw or something different? Share your thoughts in the Comments!

Cloud 1:

To get this started off, my oldest claimed this was a sea monster looking for food. (??? I don't see it.)  What do you think?


Cloud 2:

A pirate hook.

Cloud 3:

My son: A dog on it's back. Me: A kangaroo (if you turn your head sideways).


Cloud 4:

My son: A cloud. Me: A mask.

Cloud 5:

Bird or airplane.

 Cloud 6:

My son: An alien ship.

A Few Facts About Clouds:

• Clouds are made up of water or ice crystals.
• Clouds look white because they reflect the sun.
• The wind moves the clouds.
• Cirrus clouds are clouds high in the air. They are thin and wispy.
• Cumulus clouds look like cotton. They are fluffy and white.
• Stratus clouds are thick and flat. They often appear before a storm.




Chart of clouds I found online

• Cumulonimbus clouds indicate thunderstorms. The tops are flat and have an anvil shape. Sometimes, you can tell which way the storm is going by looking at where the anvil points.

Don't forget to look up at the night sky too! There are some great constellations out there: Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Orion are my favorites (probably because they're the only ones I can usually find!). For an easy look at a star, don't forget that the closest star to us is the sun!


There is some great information out there. Try these sites:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/constellations.htm. This site allows you to choose the month and hour to print a constellation map!

http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/15-science/102-star-a-constellations.html

Although there are not any total eclipses soon, there is a partial lunar eclipse predicted for May 20. See EarthSky.org for more information. There is also a meteor shower that is supposed to happen on April 21! See EarthSky.org here and here for information on the meteor shower.








Most of the cloud info found on http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-clouds.htm