Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Solar Eclipse Party

Our biggest goal for the day: NOT to send anyone home blind! I'm only slightly kidding. I thankfully bought approved solar eclipse glasses last month (although a daycare mom came to my rescue when I was one pair short), then the rest of the day came together easily.

Our day consisted of: a cardboard rocket ship that they decorated and played with, learning about the solar system with these awesome magnets, "walking on the moon" with Moon Shoes, a showing of Space Jam, making pictures with glow in the dark stickers, and attempting to get views of the eclipse through the clouds (we were only slightly successful). On the menu was eclipse donuts for breakfast (with yogurt), Sun cupcakes, pizza for lunch, Star crackers and star fruit for afternoon snack.


The Moon Shoes came Sunday afternoon. The minis gave them a whirl so they knew what to expect. Unfortunately it was raining outside so the kids had to do them in my living room during our Solar Eclipse Party. I think they would have been more fun to do in the backyard, but the kids enjoyed them nonetheless. 


These magnetic planets were perfect for learning the planets names!



Earlier this summer we had a cardboard pirate ship during Pirate Day that the kids loved and played with. I decided to order the rocket ship for our Party. It has been well loved this week.




Thank you Krisy Kreme for our Eclipse donuts! They were delicious!


We tried out a lemon drop melon for the first time for lunch. We decided to try it out for our Solar Eclipse party because the kids thought it looked like a planet.


For us in Des Moines, Iowa, the solar eclipse turned out to be a pretty big dud due to cloud cover. We actually had a really fun experience about an hour before the eclipse started. I took the school age kids (the only age group I felt comfortable doing this with because they could listen about the importance of the eclipse glasses) to the backyard to practice putting on and taking off the glasses safely (I made them look down so I could be sure they wouldn't hurt their eyes). While doing so, they got a perfect view of the sun and got to see the sun through the glasses. They only got to see the start of the eclipse, but seeing the sun beforehand helped them identify the moon as it slowly went across the sun. I'm really glad I chose to do this with them. I also let the kids take the eclipse glasses home so they can safely look at the sun anytime they want.

I love in the above picture, the two kids facing the wrong direction trying to see the sun. I had turned them around facing the sun twice, but that didn't seem to make a difference to them!



Quick views of the eclipse from the driveway. I freaked a few kids out when I told them the importance of the glasses and not burning their eyeballs.



Glow in the dark space stickers. The kids also came up with their own planet and universe drawings.


While we couldn't see the eclipse perfectly, we did watch live feeds and were able to see it in various points. I'm so glad we got to experience this day! It was a great day for learning and having fun!