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The Incredible Edible Eclipse

Get ready for some delicious fun while you help your students anticipate the Total Solar Eclipse in April.

textured craft of eclipse with a sun and a moon that can cover the sun

Everywhere I turn, it seems that people are talking and posting about the solar eclipse on April 8. A TVI (teacher of the visually impaired) reached out to me about ideas for making the eclipse accessible to her student. I’ll share some of what we discussed below, and many thanks to Mandy Boyd for sharing her creation with me as well so that I can share it with you all. 

Make an Eclipse Diagram

Mandy created a tactile diagram for her elementary student. You could use a variety of materials to do this and make them as elaborate or simple as needed. In this case, Mandy used foam, corrugated cardboard, and poster board to create her diagram. Gluing the moon shape to a popsicle stick and adding an arc shaped slit in the paper allows the student to pass it back and forth between the sun and the earth to demonstrate how an eclipse works. During the lesson, Mandy’s student will create braille labels to place on the diagram.

Make an Edible Eclipse Model

Mandy and I discussed some incredible, edible ideas for demonstrating how eclipses work. 

  • Use different types of spherical fruits or vegetables to represent the moon, sun, and earth. Including those with different colors, textures, and sizes will help your students expand their understanding of these concepts.
  • Use different kinds of cookies in different sizes to represent the moon, sun, and earth. You can use the cream side of an Oreo to represent the moon. One way to expand this is to cut portions of the cream out to demonstrate the phases of the moon.
textured craft of eclipse with a sun, earth, and moon

Other Ideas

  • Paint or cover styrofoam balls to make an eclipse model.
  • Use balloons to make an eclipse model, and for students with low vision, you may choose to put a glow stick or light inside of the one that represents the sun.
  • Use a flashlight to represent the sun, and expand your conversation to include concepts about day and night or changing seasons. 
  • Dramatize an eclipse using students to represent the sun, moon, and earth.
  • Locate an audio description of the eclipse. This one will be broadcast live on April 8, 2024

Connections to Literacy

  • Ask students to write a narrative about what takes place during an eclipse. 
  • Ask students to read a passage and answer questions about an eclipse.
  • Label diagrams or models with print or braille.
  • To practice discrimination skills, braille flashcards with sun, moon, and earth and ask your student to sort them.
The Incredible Edible Eclipse Pin
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