Tag: shadows

Shadow Show

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I haven’t used a flashlight during play with Veronika since she was quite little, and today I wanted to put on a little show for her. To be honest, she was more into my hands than their shadowed counterpart on the wall, but either way, she was entertained!

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Set your child someplace dim, and shine a flashlight on one wall. First, I gave a simple wave to introduce her to the idea of shadows.

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Next, try making animal shapes! A butterfly was fun.

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And this was something like a barking dog.

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For each shape, you can act out a story, if your little one is captivated.

We then thought it would be fun to show her the shadow of certain toys. Big brother Travis loved helping with this part!

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So although she wasn’t as into the shadows as the whole process, Veronika sure enjoyed our show.

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Tissue Paper Night-Lights

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This is such a beautiful craft for any child afraid of shadows in their room at night. Not only will they feel the pride of having put it together, but the result is comforting and beautiful!

First we needed to tear multiple colors of tissue paper into small pieces. Any excuse to rip through tissue paper is welcome in this house!

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Once we had a pile of scraps, we mixed together glue with a splash of water in a cup.

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Travis loved painting every inch of our mason jar with the glue mixture – so much so that he wanted me to layer on the tissue paper while he continued to add more glue. He wasn’t content until every inch was covered!

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We set our mason jar aside to dry, and by naptime, it was ready!

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Use any battery-operated tea light, and place inside the jar. Travis loved taking the tea light in and out and screwing on the lid, testing the nightlight in several parts of his room until he found his favorite. What a success!

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Shadow Puzzles

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This game is a delight… both to set up and to play!

First, I told Travis we needed to go on a hunt for special items. He had no idea what was in store, but just the word “hunt” was a thrill! Find a variety of objects around the house with relatively simple outlines. We collected blocks, a hairbrush, fork, pom pom, toy wrench, and clothespin.

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While Travis watched, I outlined each of the items, and then he was my helper handing over markers by color as I filled in the outlines. He was a very proud pen-cap-remover during this stage.

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With our shadows in place, it was time to find out which object cast which shadow!

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Most of our objects were fairly obvioys, but he puzzled over the hairbrush a bit, and was so satisfied when he found the right shadow.

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No sooner done than he asked to do it again – always the sign of a success!

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Shadow Dancing

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With late autumn sunshine pouring in through our windows, we were inspired to take our dancing up a notch!

Depending on the direction your windows face, play this game when shadows are best projected against the wall. If it’s a rainy day (or nighttime!) you can continue the fun by putting out all the lights in the room except one, and then angling one light to hit a wall.

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Have fun dancing up a storm, bonus points for songs that involve hand motions and gestures.

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Travis loves Shake Those ‘Simmons Down from Music Together, and it was an absolute delight to dance with our shadow partners.

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To continue the fun, I showed him how to make a few hand shadow animals, such as birds…

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…And ducks.

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Bonus points: our cat loved watching the action!

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