Before: learn about the eclipse
If you prepare kids well for what is about to happen, they will get more from it. "In advance of eclipse day, help your kids learn the basic science of what will be happening and what they will see during the partial and total phases," said Ross. A good place to start is Timeanddate, which will give you an exact schedule of what will happen, when, and what to look out for for any location.
Before: make a space-themed buffet
A space-themed buffet is a fun way to celebrate the big day, and it's hardly a challenging task for kids during a trip to a store. Chocolate MoonPie marshmallow sandwiches, Mars bars, Milky Ways and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies are a given, as are Starburst, Sun Chips, SunnyD and Capri-Sun.
Although a space-themed buffet is just for fun, there is a way of using Oreos as a learning opportunity. Forget the new flavors of Oreos, such as chocolate creme, and go for a pack of originals. That way, you can separate each one and create a montage of the stages of a solar eclipse, laying the dark biscuit (the moon) across the white cream on the other biscuit (the sun) to create a more and more obscured sun.
Before: create eclipse-viewing masks
the sun while outside for several hours (though that may not be a significant issue in April). Decorate the plates with markers, stickers, or paint.