This is part of my Fifteen Minute Focus series.

Supplies: black (or dark) paper, scissors, cookie cutters (e.g. star or heart shapes), white colored pencils, tape, hole punches (ideally those that make fun shapes), popsicle stick or straw

Intro

Ask questions like: when do we see shadows? what kind of weather? do we see shadows at night time in the dark? Can you see any shadows in the room now? What do we need to make a shadow? Use a flashlight and any object to point out the key points – light travels in a straight line. If it’s aimed straight at the wall / table, it hits the wall / table. If there’s an object between the light and the wall/table, some of the light gets stuck there, and there’s a shadow behind it, the same shape as the object.

Book (optional)

Read a shadow book. You can print the shadow science book I wrote for my classes, or one of these:

• I See a Shadow by Breen. (Preview video by the author.)
• What Makes a Shadow by Bulla, illus by Otani. (Video of read-aloud.)
• Oscar and the Moth: A Book About Light and Dark by Waring. 
• Moonbear’s Shadow by Asch.
• The Dark, Dark Night by Butler and Chapman.

Shadow Puppet Craft

Show them how to use the white pencil to trace around the cookie cutter to make a shape on the paper. Then cut out the shape. Tape it to the straw or stick. Shine a light on it to show how it makes a shadow. Then punch a few holes in the puppet. Now shine the light – see how most of the light is blocked and there’s a shadow, but where there’s a hole in the paper the light passes through and you can see a bright shape. (If you have colored cellophane, you can use it to cover one of the holes to make a colored shadow, then teach the words opaque, translucent, and transparent.)

Song:

to the Itsy Bitsy Spider tune:

My Itsy Bitsy Shadow Follows Me Around.
The sun is way up high so my shadow’s on the ground.
When it’s gray and cloudy, my shadow goes away.
I know that I will see it in on the next bright sunny day.

There’s also Hi Shadow which is fun.