Solar Eclipse Mask Activity

Welcome to the ‘Ceremonial’ Solar Eclipse Mask Activity web page (and zip file, near the bottom). Here’s a short explanation about this project.

Instead of doling out eclipse glasses and card viewers, our seasoned eclipse chasers and informal educators gradually developed a fun way to introduce solar eclipses (and solar viewing in general) with an indoor, creative project – making what we call ‘ceremonial’ eclipse masks. We choose to say ceremonial because the masks themselves can represent many things: celebration; regional and cultural interests including art and history; or something pertinent to the venue in which the project is being presented (museums, zoos, aquariums, parks, etc.) A number of templates have been included in the .zip file, royalty free. They were geared toward interests in New Mexico. By all means, experiment with your own regional interests. Older students could even make their own masks from scratch.

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The project does require a fair amount of preparation on behalf of the hosting organization. With the information contained herein, it will take a single individual about 8 hours (most of it trimming solar filter material) to prepare the materials for making upwards of 1,000 masks. Obviously, you can scale up if you have the personnel and interest. If you want to scale down, you might want to find other organizations in your area to share this project with (particularly the bulk rolls of solar film).

In practice, once all the materials are prepared, the actual execution time for a young person to prepare a mask will depend on two key factors: age(s) of the audience, and how much supervision is available…

This activity is appropriate for most grade schoolers with supervision. With help from an adult, even K-2 can finish in under 30 minutes.

  • Mature 2nd graders on up can complete the project with some supervision in 20-30 minutes (a bit more time is required as a group).
  • 5th graders show great aptitude for this project and can complete the project in 20 – 40 minutes depending on how detailed they are.
  • Adults? Depending on your circumstances, I would suggest offering this activity for free to all students, and if an adult would like to participate, leave out a donation jar. (I would also suggest that docents/teachers/etc. make a mask for themselves to prepare for the activity and use their masks as demos to generate excitement for the project.)

Even with all the materials prepped, supervision is required as you will learn from the preparation documents. This is not a project as straightforward as leaving out a coloring book or following the maze, etc. However, it is a fun project to engage in. Museum docents, for example, need only about a 15 minute introduction, and it’s all fun from there. The linked .zip file includes a list of all the materials required as well as notes as to how to best execute this project.

I am available to answer any of your questions or concerns at info@asterionfoundation.org (before you commit to this project, and after).

The Solar Eclipse Mask Activity zip file includes 4 pdf files (the file beginning with “000” is the detailed preparation document and should be read first) as well as a number of templates and examples in jpeg format (the actual number changes with occasional updates).

If you decide to distribute this activity, please keep in touch and share your experiences!