Solar Eclipse Books and Activities

If you’re looking for solar eclipse books and activities, plus printables, I’ve got a bunch of good ones for you! I put together a FREE mini-unit on the solar eclipse for you to print, a book list, and more resources to learn about the solar eclipse with your kids.

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Solar Eclipse Books and Activities

The FREE Solar Eclipse mini-unit study for K-6 has:

• video and podcast links
• hands-on activities
• printable book list
• journaling pages

Solar Eclipse Activities

• Get some solar eclipse glasses
• Make a solar projector (a ridiculously simple one is included in the mini-unit)
• Simulate the eclipse (directions included in the free guide)
• Watch videos or listen to podcasts about it – find someone who’s streaming the eclipse live if you can’t travel! There are some great kid podcasts linked in the free guide.
• Make a sun or moon themed dessert!
• Read all the books!

Whether you’re traveling to the path of totality or not, a rare event like a total solar eclipse is so fun and interesting to learn about together! So whether you dive in completely into a deep study or just read a few books together, definitely grab a few books from the list.

You can find a printable version of this book list in the free mini-unit study, but I’ve also added them here with links.

*If you’re late the game and can’t purchase or find them at the library, some of them have a Kindle version!

Solar eclipse books

• The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons
• The Sun by Seymour Simon
• Eclipse: How the 1919 Solar Eclipse Proved Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity by Darcy Pattison
• A Few Beautiful Minutes by Kate Allen Fox – this book has beautiful illustrations and lovely poetry-like story
• When the Sun Goes Dark by Andrew Fraknoi
• What is a Solar Eclipse? by Dana Meachen Rau
• Usborne Beginners Sun, Moon and Stars (great for beginning readers to read independently)

Other books about the sun and the moon

• Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons
• Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley
• What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn M. Branley
• The Sun by Elaine Landau
• The Moon by Elaine Landau
• The Berenstain Bears On the Moon by Stan and Jan Berenstain (an early reader)
• There’s No Place Like Space! by Tish Rabe

If you like literature based unit studies, you might like these: