Taking the Kids: Get ready for the eclipse

Additionally, the festival will showcase 12 different global collaborators – Symbiosis (California), Re:birth (Japan), Strawberry Fields (Australia), Earth Frequency are among those curating immersive art, workshops, yoga, kids and family programming, wellness retreat experiences, and a bush spa.

At the same time, Grapevine, Texas, promises to give viewers“ an unmatched view” of the eclipse. Families can gather in Grapevine parks, the Historic Main Street District or Historic Nash Farm to share the experience as music plays and galactic characters roam the streets. Local eateries are offering space-themed food and drinks (think The Blackout Sandwich at Weinberger’s Deli and a Blackout Sour at Harvest Hall and a Solar Eclipse Shake at Son of a Butcher. Visitors will even get to experience a hands-on, craft-making session where they will learn to make a pinhole camera while enjoying party games and eclipse stories.

There is even a VIP experience with front-row access at Peace Plaza complete with a swag bag.

The HomeExchange Collection offers a selection of luxury homes on the eclipse path for travelers who want to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime event. Check out Campspot’s specific eclipse page. Campspot is a leading booking site for private campgrounds.

Mansfield, Ohio, expects thousands of visitors as the first total solar eclipse covers Ohio in 208 years. Richland County Fairgrounds will be transformed into a massive OHclipse Mansfield viewing party with seating for 2,500 people, 200 campsites and three days packed with events and activities. A massive marketplace of local vendors and artists, indoor kids play area, souvenir eclipse glasses, food trucks, half a dozen live bands and some of the best viewing in the U.S. will take place on 100 acres with dozens of buildings and shelters. (Admission is $5 on Friday, $20 Saturday and Monday, and $10 on Sunday. Parking is $20. A four-night tent and RV Camping Package is $500. The two-night package is $400.

Another good viewing bet is Malabar Farm State Park, just 10 miles from downtown Mansfield and with 900 acres of wide-open farmland.

Genesee Country Village & Museum, in Mumford, N.Y., about 25 minutes from Rochester, is hosting Solar Spectacle event: a four-day festival (Friday, April 5 to Monday, April 8), culminating in a total solar eclipse over its 19th-century Historic Village on Monday, April 8.

(Check out the NASA Kids page with lots of activities from building your own solar system to coloring books to even a solar system cookbook (Gummy Greenhouse Gases, perhaps?) San Francisco’s Exploratorium has also created some activities to give kids what they need to know about viewing and understanding eclipses. Check what programs and online activities your local science museum might be offering.

And don’t forget your special eclipse glasses.

Viewing any part of the sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury, NASA warns. When watching an annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times.

Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and must comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard.

(NASA says if you don’t have eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can use an indirect viewing method, which does not involve looking directly at the sun. One way is to use a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and projects an image of the sun onto a nearby surface. With the sun at your back, you can then safely view the projected image. Do NOT look at the sun through the pinhole!)

Be safe out there!

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The fourth edition of The Kid’s Guide to New York City and the third edition of The Kid’s Guide to Washington D.C. are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)