Today, August 21, 2017, we experienced a total solar eclipse. This once-in-a-lifetime event has to be celebrated. I followed my own Solar Eclipse Lesson Plan and we had a great time. We started out with pancakes for breakfast. Instead of maple syrup, which would not have been dark enough, I made a chocolate avocado frosting. I know. It sounds weird.
Eclipse breakfast pancakes
I tell you, I could taste the avocados a little bit, so maybe next time I will not use two avocados. Only one. The texture can go more creamy or less creamy and it does not make a huge difference in terms of how runny it is.
Eclipse lunch: tostadas
We did school or learning as usual and, by noon, we were almost finished. We dropped everything so we could start watching the NASA Solar Eclipse live coverage. While watching, I started on lunch – simply corn tortillas with black beans and some salad, corn kernels, cheese and sour cream. I am vegan, so I used the non-dairy version of all these, while for my husband and children I used the regular kind. I got inspired by these solar eclipse tostadas, though I followed the recipe only loosely.
They painted paper plates yellow and black for a simple eclipse craft.
We then enjoyed a gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake. By now, the eclipse was in full swing and we went outside to watch glimpses of it here and there. We did not watch it for longer than 20 seconds at a time, even though we had eclipse-safe visors. We went out several times during the three-hour event.
Our children look at the solar eclipse through safe visors.
I had the kids work on a simple craft with painted paper plates. This may be the last year I get my nine-year-old to work on such cute crafts. He is already not very keen on cutesy projects anymore.
Sun and moon craft – we moved them over each other to reenact the eclipse.
By 2:30pm it was time to got outside to actually experience the near totality from our backyard. The street lights came on in front of our neighbor’s home. The natural light changed into a hue that is hard to describe. The crickets started chirping and the birds stopped singing. It was an amazing moment.
Eclipse dessert – chocolate cake, what else?
We had a great time and I am sure the kids will remember this for the rest of their life. The funny things is, when my husband was nine, he also got to experience a solar eclipse. So the cycle repeats itself.
