Materials:
flashlight
random objects or toys
a blank wall
Play ideas:
Let your imagination run wild with this activity. Shine the flashlight on the wall and place a toy in between the flashlight and the wall. Point out the shadow to your little one.
Aiden got so excited to see the shadow shapes on the wall.
Don't you love that little face?
We made shadows with our hands and feet, stuffed animals, shapes, toy cars, and toy horses. We observed the silhouettes of our bodies. We used big toys and small toys. Aiden liked to make the stuffed animals dance. You can also try shadow dancing with your little one yourself.
Hold a toy far away from the light (it will be small).
Bring the toy close to the light and watch it get bigger.
Questions to ask:
- What makes a shadow? {When something blocks the light, a shadow in the shape of the object is made.}
- What happens when we bring something closer to the flashlight? {The shadow gets bigger.}
- What shape is on the wall?
After having loads of fun playing and learning about shadows, we played hide and seek in the dark. Patrick and I took turns hiding while Aiden looked for us with the flashlight. We were still honing our science skills during the hide and seek festivities. We made observations and used our reasoning skills in order to search for someone.
Go grab a flashlight and have some fun.
Throw in some science learning while you’re at it!
I love love love shadow play!
I used to do drama activities with a big white sheet and light from overhead projector and the children would do shadow plays! It was a hit! I blogged a few weeks ago about shadow play with my 18 month old one morning!
It was tons of fun! I’m sure we’ll do it again. I’ll have to check out what you did!
That sounds like a fun series of lectures (Saturday Morning Science), that or they could be incredibly obscure I guess…….
Oddly enough I don’t think I’ve actually done shadow play with my kids. I need to remember to try it sometime.
Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday!
The lectures are about a wide variety of science topics, but they are always pretty good. Many students attend them, too.
I’m glad you are thinking of shadow play with your kids – we had so much fun with it!
Great post! We’ve been doing TONS of shadow play this month after talking about Groundhog’s Day! I LOVE that you discuss the science behind it in this post!
Wanting to add more science to our days so thanks for the inspiration!
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Glad we could help.
Thank you for this great activity! We will be working with shadows soon!
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