Eclipses are relatively rare and fascinating events. I still remember vividly seeing a partial eclipse in 1984 when I was 9. It made me think about the world and the universe a little differently. I’ve loved eclipses ever since, and though I’ve never seen a full eclipse, I always try to get outside to observe partial eclipses.

This brings us to the question of how to best view an eclipse, or more specifically how to help our children observe the eclipse.  Looking directly at the sun without protection, even during an eclipse (maybe especially during an eclipse) is dangerous and can easily damage your vision.   Given how important we all know vision is, and how much we’ve invested in our children’s vision, I wanted to share some information about safely viewing the eclipse.

I talked with Dr. Nate Bonilla-Warford a pediatric optometrist in Tampa, FL ], in 2017 before another full eclipse, about his thoughts on children viewing the eclipse.  He said:

“An eclipse is an exciting event for the entire family. As long as you and your children are prepared ahead of time with proper viewing equipment, practice, and instruction to never look directly at the sun, there is very low risk of eye problems. If you are concerned about vision problems after the eclipse, vision your eye doctor.”

You can hear more from Dr. Nate on his 2017 podcast, about eclipse safety.

There are safe and not-safe ways to view the eclipse

As mentioned before, looking at the sun without protection will damage your child’s eyes (and your eyes).  Usually, the brightness of the sun will trigger a reflex that keeps you from looking directly at it, however, during the eclipse, the sun will be less bright and it may feel more comfortable to look at the sun.  The backs of our eyes do not have pain sensors, so there’s no feedback telling you to look away if damage is occurring.  And damage, known as solar retinopathy, does occur from looking directly at the sun.

For any eclipse viewing, make sure that you supervise your child and that you emphasize to them how important it is that they not look directly at the sun. You know your child best, if they are likely to try to stare at the sun, maybe directly observing the eclipse outside isn’t the right activity for them. Luckily, there’s some great ways to observe the eclipse without looking at the sun. 

Looking at the sun during an eclipse – safely!

If you and your child want to observe the eclipse by looking at the sun, you must use solar safe viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) before and after totality.

According to the NASA Eclipse Safety Page:

“You can view the eclipse directly without proper eye protection only when the Moon completely obscures the Sun’s bright face – during the brief and spectacular period known as totality. (You’ll know it’s safe when you can no longer see any part of the Sun through eclipse glasses or a solar viewer.).

“As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright Sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the Sun.”

First, it is critical to make sure that the glasses you have are compliant with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard.  If they are the right kind of glasses, you will not be able to see through them at all when you aren’t looking at the sun. The American Astronomical Society has a list of suppliers of safe eclipse glasses

For kids who wear glasses, the eclipse glasses should go over their regular glasses.  It may be easiest for them to just hold the glasses up to their eyes rather than try to wear them over their glasses. Practice this out before the eclipse.

You can cut out a paper plate around the glasses to make them easier for your child to hold up to their eyes and make it less likely that they’ll peek around at the sun.  Find instructions from NASA here.

Some of the best ways of observing the eclipse don’t involve looking directly at the sun at all.

Pinhole projectors

Making a pinhole projector is easy and it lets you see the changes in the sun during the eclipse safely as you are looking at a projection of the sun.

• NASA has a page with instructions and printable pdfs to use to make different pinhole projectors at home.
• The Jet Propulsion Laboratory also has step by step instructions.
• University of Illinois has instructions to make a couple of different types of viewers, from cereal box or a cardboard tube.

Looking at shadows cast by trees

I’m including this mostly because it blew my mind as a kid. The sun shining through leaves on the trees makes a natural pinhole projector – you can see the shape of the eclipse in the shadows.

The science blog, Last Word on Nothing has a great explanation of this.

Visit your local observatory.
If you live near an observatory, many will have public events (though they’ll probably be very crowded) and many will have other solar viewers that let you view the eclipse safely, often in much greater detail than you’d be able to see on your own.  Plus, there will be astronomers and teachers there to give you more information during the event.

Happy eclipse viewing!

My 5th grade daughter was inspired by her little brother Gus when choosing the topic for her STEM Fair project. If your child has ever had to patch or practice another form of occlusion therapy, she would greatly appreciate your help in completing this brief survey. I will be posting to multiple groups, so please only respond once for each patching child. Thank you!

You can help by filling out this short survey on skin sensitivity and patching

Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, is the most common cause of preventable visual impairment in children, and yet the treatment does not work for half of children. We are hoping to understand further the challenges experienced with patching treatment and are launching a survey looking into the barriers and facilitators to occlusion therapy. By getting some learned experience from a wide range of people involved in patching- patients, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, we hope to improve visual outcomes for children.

We would also like to get a clearer understanding of whether new advances in the field, such as apps that can detect whether a child is wearing their patch and give them rewards within the game, would be useful for people in everyday life.

To be able to make change and influence the treatment outcomes of occlusion therapy in the future, we need your help. If you have any previous experience of patching, or helping someone else to patch, we would love to hear from you. Please complete our survey linked below.

https://forms.office.com/r/0zrWPX0smC

Also if you have the chance, please could you share this survey with others, so that we can reach as many people as possible!

If you are interested in further research in this field, please drop us an email to
getinvolvedineyeresearch@gmail.com

“I’m Getting New Glasses!” is a new picture book written and illustrated by Beth Ann Ramos. Ramos is an author, illustrator, and health advocate. This is her first book.

The book tells the story of Olive and her brother Andy as they go to pick out Olive’s glasses. Olive is nervous at first, but the siblings quickly find that trying on glasses can be a lot of fun. The story is told in a rhyme with cheerful illustrations of kids wearing glasses against colorful backgrounds. I love that the book acknowledges that getting glasses can be a little scary, but it doesn’t dwell on that part and instead focuses on the positive aspects of glasses and how they can be a great way to express yourself.

This would be a perfect book to read before going to pick out glasses. It could start conversations about what your child might want to look for in glasses. It would also be a great book to have at an optical shop with a great selection of children’s frames.

If your child loves coloring, Ramos’ website includes a page for “Fun Stuff” which has a coloring sheet featuring Olive and her glasses. The coloring sheet is from forthcoming book “When I take care of me,” so it sounds like there will be more adventures of Olive and Andy to come.

Disclaimer: Author/Illustrator Beth Ann Ramos provided a copy of her book for this review.  No other compensation was received.  This review reflects my honest opinion of the book.  This page contains affiliate links to purchase the book. I receive a small commission when you purchase items following those links.  That money goes towards the maintenance of this site.

One of the parents in the For Little Eyes facebook group, Amanda Bettencourt, is looking to compile data about the experiences of US parents whose child(ren) needed glasses under the age of 8. To that end, she’s written a survey to collect parents’ experiences and thoughts. She plans to use this data to better understand the issues around finding glasses that fit well, and to use it to advocate for better processes and education.

For Little Eyes and Eye Power Kids Wear are joining in to offer a giveaway for participants. Participants can enter to win one of three 3-month subscriptions to Eye Power Kids Wear’s Eye Adventure Team Letters! These are fun once a month letters with information topics around vision and eyes.

The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete. If you would like to enter the giveaway, you’ll be asked for your email address, but that address will not be shared with anyone else. Please share this survey with other parents who have young children in glasses.

(Link to the Survey)

This picture was shared by Amanda Nauroth, who notes that she searched her kitchen, dining room and daughter’s play room. This was — of course — the last place she looked, and nearly missed them.

Can you find the glasses in the bin? I’ll give you a hint, they’re pink

…

…

give up?

Here’s the same photo with arrows pointing out the pale pink frames, just barely visible.

Where have you found your child’s hidden glasses?

Many thanks to A Child’s Eyes for sharing this photo of Truffles the Kitty. Truffles works at A Child’s Eyes where she wears glasses to help kids feel better about wearing glasses. You can follow Truffles on Instagram, @Truffles_the_Kitty.

After 2646 hours of patching, 3 surgeries, and too many drops to count, our girl is finally done! Follow up visits to happen, but vision in her injured eye is 20/25 and holding steady for a year now! HUGE thank you to OHSU Casey Eye Institute and Dr Lorri Wilson for her amazing care! Pictures are from her literal last time of taking off her patch ! (Photo credits: Jessie Arambul Photography)

— Jessie Lynn

The story

I asked Jessie for a little more background on her daughter’s story, here’s what she sent:

When she had just turned 3, my daughter pulled on an exercise tube that had a handle tied to a deck railing. It snapped at the handle and the metal part connecting the handle to the rubber snapped back and hit her in the eye. She ended up with a total hyphema of the left eye (a hyphema is when blood collects in the front of the eye, usually due to injury). Our eye doctor sent us to OHSU Doernbecher ER that night. Her pressure was 33 in that eye (normal is in the range of 12-22). They were able to get the pressure down and referred us to Casey Eye and to Dr. Wilson.

A wears glasses for strabismus, amblyopia, and farsightedness. Jan writes, “We had a great experience today! This guy just turned two and has only had glasses for about five months. As you can see we have lizards in our yard….. While he was playing in the pool today he saw a lizard on the wall across the yard and asked for his ‘gosses’ to see the ‘izard’!!! Although he adjusted to the glasses fairly quickly it was exciting to know he understands what they do!!!”

Summary of the book

The Boy in the Big Blue Glasses by Susanne Gervay and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall is a picture book that tells the story of Sammy as he gets his first pair of glasses. Sammy doesn’t want to wear his glasses, they hurt his ears, but worse than that, they seem to make people not recognize him anymore. His family and teachers all say some version of, “who’s that handsome boy in glasses?” when they see him.

Sammy just wants people to see him for who he is and not focus on his glasses. He tries hiding his glasses, but his parents and teacher find them and make him wear them. He sits by himself at school, and takes off his glasses to clean them, when he notices how strange and blurry things look without his glasses. That leads him to making funny faces, and the whole classroom gets in on the fun and call him by name, “Sam, Sam, Sam. You’re so funny!” That’s all Sam wanted, to be seen as who he is. The final page of the book shows Sammy playing playing pirate ship with his friends, with the text, “Everyone can see me.”

Review

This book touches really sweetly on many of the very real, difficult feelings that kids can have when it comes to getting glasses that can be hard for them to explain to others. It talks about how well-meaning comments from others don’t always have the intended effect. The adults in the book are not mean or ill-intentioned, but their comments about how they don’t recognize that handsome boy in glasses only add to Sam’s feelings of being different and his fear that no one will know who he is. Zoe never had that fear with glasses (she got them so young, it wasn’t an issue), but she did voice that fear when she was 4 years old and had to wear a patch in public. I also liked the small detail in the book that Sam’s glasses hurt his ears at first, but when they were adjusted, they stopped hurting.

The illustrations are beautiful, especially those that show Sam and his friends’ imaginations when they play. Often a scene from one page bleeds over onto the facing page, giving more space for details of those scenes.

The books is listed as being for ages 3 – 8, and I agree with that age range. The text and layout and bright illustrations make it a good choice for reading out loud. I think this book could be a good one to read in a classroom to open up discussions on how things can make us feel different and also, how we can see our friends for who they are.

Give away

As with most reviews I write, I am giving away my review copy of the book. To enter, leave a comment about your child’s favorite game to play with friends. I will randomly select a commenter to receive the copy on Monday, August 5, 2019. Make sure you leave your email address in the email address field when you comment so that I can contact you if you’re selected.

Comments on this site are moderated, so don’t be alarmed if your comment doesn’t show up immediately, I’ll be checking and making sure to approve your comments.

Many, many thanks to Amber O. for sharing this beautiful story. Her daughter has nystagmus and optic nerve hypoplasia – Ann Z

WARNING Mom Brag/Soap box Post:

Background: Meg is a 7th grader that has low vision, her glasses help but do not give her perfect vision.

A few days ago in one of Meg’s classes a substitute teacher asked her to move away from her front seat (this is a written accommodation in every class). She advocated for herself(as she has done whole life proudly), explaining why she needed to sit in the front. The sub still would not listen. That’s when her entire class stood up and advocated for her. Informing the teacher why she should be allowed to sit up front.

I always hear complaints of teenagers being selfish and rude but I’m not seeing it (this being one example this year). I did ask her if she got made fun of in school, she said that no one makes fun of her except her close group of friends but “they have permission to tease me.” This is the generation that is holds our future, teens who advocate for their friends in need despite the whiplash are superheroes in my book. 

I’m not sure of the end result of where she ended up in the class. My girl finished the day knowing that she has an army of classmates that has her back and I know that my girl can advocate for herself with no shame.
Advocacy is such an important tool to teach kids whether they have disabilities or not. Teaching kids to recognize equality in every aspect of learning or living. Teaching kids to see all humans are treated with the same compassion as the next despite how they look, talk, learn or move. Teaching kids compassion and advocacy forms better humans than teaching kids only book knowledge.

Summary of the book

Amazing Amber and her Lazy Laser Eye is a new children’s book featuring a superhero named Amber, who just happens to need to do a bit of patching to defeat a pie-throwing villain.

The hero of the story, Amber, can fly and shoot things with her laser eye, and uses those powers to help people. Like all good superhero stories, there is a villain as well. In this case, the villain throws pies at innocent bystanders. Amber shoots the pies down with her laser eye, but when the villain creates a machine that can launch two pies at once, she learns that only one of her laser eyes works. She visits an eye doctor, who tells her that she has lazy eye. She wears a patch over her strong laser eye and practices using her other eye until it becomes just as strong. Using both eyes together, she’s able to defeat the villain and save the day!

Review

I really enjoyed and appreciated this book. The metaphor of a superhero who needs to strengthen her laser eye works well in the story and kids who need to patch for amblyopia will find her easy to relate to. There is no teasing in the book, or scenes of Amber disliking her patch, though patching is shown as hard work that takes time. The story is fun and funny and easy to follow. There are not a lot of books out there for kids who patch, so this is a welcome addition!

The illustrations by Alecksis Vladimir are bright and colorful and reminiscent of comic books, as is befitting a superhero tale. Amazing Amber is a collaboration between Eagle Ngo, a year -12 student from Brisbane, Mitchell Bagley, an orthoptist, and Dr. Jason Cheng, a Sydney-based ophthalmic surgeon. It is available in print and ebook.

The book is listed as being for grades Kindergarten – 6th grade. I think the book would work well for kids age 4 – 8. The text is not too dense, and the book can be read in one sitting. It would be an excellent book to read out loud to a class to help other children understand why their friend and classmate wears a patch.

Give Away

Updated March 4, 2019: Congratulations to Rachel who was selected from the commenters as the winner of the book give away!

Since Zoe is done with patching, I would love to give my review copy to someone else who would enjoy it. To enter, leave a comment about what super powers your child would want. I will randomly select a commenter to receive the copy on Monday, March 5, 2019. Make sure you leave your email address when you comment so that I can contact you if you’re selected.

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romantic love. This holiday reminds us to celebrate friendship and our unique personalities through self-love while offering praise and thanksgiving to those who make a positive difference in our lives. Be sure to visit the links below to download our favorite FREE vision-themed Valentine’s Day printables. These cards and coloring pages are perfect for upcoming Valentine’s Day parties and class card exchanges.

You can download and print any of the following files with your home computer or have them professionally printed at your favorite local printer or office supply store. We recommend printing with full-color laser ink on white cardstock paper for the best results!

From Eye Power Kids Wear

“I’ve got my eye on you!” and “Eye Patch Lollipop Valentines” from Eye Power Kids Wear.

“I have my eye on you.” “Eye Heart You!” and “You’re Sweet!” Valentine cards from Eye Power Kids Wear 

Valentine’s Day coloring sheets from the Eye Power Kids Wear blog.

Also, be sure to check out the “I love my glasses!” shirt and dozens of t-shirts and onesies that promote awareness and help kids feel more confident in their eyewear at EyePowerKidsWear.com.

From Ahoy Amigo

“You’re Pawsome” and “I’ve only got eyes for you” Valentine’s Day cards! Keep these modern and monochrome OR let you child customize the designs by coloring the designs themselves! Coordinating “You’re pawsome” t-shirts and raglans are also available for purchase at AhoyAmigo.com.

More free printables

“I think you are SPECtacular” valentines (you provide the plastic glasses to go with them) from Smashed Peas & Carrots.

Four assorted valentines cards featuring hipster animals wearing glasses from This Mama loves.

Your child can celebrate their vision and Valentines day with these “I love seeing you at school” cards from Makely (you can choose to pair them with plastic glasses, or use them as is).

“Our future’s so bright” cards from My 3 Monsters (add your own heart-shaped sunglasses)

“Hey, Valentine. You are pretty spec-tacular!” cards with paper heart glasses from Persia Lou.

While these superpower valentines from Free to be Kids may not be a glasses- or patching-related design, we believe all of our kids are superheroes and wanted to include them too!

For more holiday patching fun and to read tips and tricks for successful patch therapy, be sure to follow our patching journey with Gus on Instagram @patchwithgus.

Huge, huge thanks to Carrie from @patchwithgus for pulling all these great valentines together!

[image description: a toy velociraptor wearing a teal eye patch.]