Excellent question. Since I am traveling to the total solar eclipse April 8, 2024, I am using the annular/partial eclipse of October 14, 2023 to rehearse and practice for the total eclipse. Everyone can do a little activity to help prepare.
Here is my suggestion. Do this a few days in advance if possible. Take a piece of thin cardboard, 8.5 X 11″ is a good size. Now imagine a dot matrix printer. Write out a message (“Happy Birthday” or your location, perhaps) using dots. Poke holes where the dots are using a pin. At the time of maximum coverage of the sun, hold the message up and project it onto a white surface (foam core board or such.) Each hole projects an image of the crescent sun! Take pictures. A real memory maker.
In the map above, the darkest line is the region where the annular eclipse will occur. Any place outside of that will see a partial eclipse. The scale at the bottom of the image gives the approximate coverage of the sun by the moon at maximum. The activity is best if you are in an area of at least 50% coverage, which includes all of Mexico, the western half of the USA, the southeast USA and Central America.
If you try this please comment and let me know how it went.