april 2024
Two children were very intrigued by what they had learned about the recent Solar Eclipse in class that day. While playing in the gym, one child had a yellow hula hoop and the other a large bouncy ball. As they interacted in the gym they started to discuss the Eclipse. The child with the hula hoop holds it up and says “lets pretend that this is the sun.” The other child responds “Okay this can be the moon.” Soon they come to me and ask if they can demonstrate to the program how the different Solar eclipses work. “ Yes we can put on a play for the children,” says AG. Eagerly the group gathers to the bench to watch the play. “This is a partial Eclipse,” as the ball (moon) is only partially covering the hula hoop (sun) “and this is a Total Eclipse” they continue to move the ball (moon) around the hula hoop (sun). They also show us a 'diamond ring' effect which appears immediately before and after the Sun is completely covered by the moon. It was impressive to watch these young children take such an interest and share their incredible knowledge with the program in the form of a play.
Cristy Kuokkanen, S.S.W
