This is part of my Fifteen Minute Focus series. It teaches about light and shadow, and also teaches the skill of tracing around an object as we make shadow puppets.

Objective: Children will be able to state that a shadow’s shape is similar to the shape of the object that casts the shadow.

Supplies

For project: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 or coffee stirrer

For demo: a bright light to shine on the wall*, opaque items to hold in front of it to show how they cast shadows that are the same shape as the object. (you can grab almost anything off your desk for this)

* we use an old style overhead projector. You could set up a shop light or a bright flashlight (even your cell phone could work), or you could use a modern projctor and just show a plain white slide on the wall.

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 illustrate some key concepts – 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 on the object, and there’s a shadow on the wall, that is 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 on it – notice 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.

Check out more: shadow activities for Groundhog’s Day or any day. And my “Opaque and Translucent” lesson that follows this one.