Kindergarten Activity No. 57 : Shadow Drawing: Fun under the sun at home

Exploring Shadows/Light and reflection

What is Shadow Drawing?

Drawing around a shadow is a lovely idea to do while the sun is shining. It is also a great activity to introduce the concept of shapes, shadows and outlines to children.

In this activity the children will observe the shadows of different objects created by the sunlight during the early morning or late afternoon.

Learning objectives

Learn how to focus
Expand their imagination and creativity
Learn about shadows objects make during different times of the day
Develop their fine motor skills

For this activity you need:

Toys/objects
Paper
Marker

Instructions:

This video will help you understand how to do shadow tracing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyyJDXq-7uU

Start this activity by inviting your child to choose any toy/object they like.
Together with your child find a sunny area outside, or a spot next to a window, to set up your drawing area.
Lay out some paper on the floor and put the toy/object on the paper.
Make sure the object is in the sun and is casting a shadow on the paper for your child to trace.
Using a marker, trace the outline of the object on the paper.
Remind him/her to never look directly at the sun, but to concentrate on the shadows.
Leave the toy on the paper for some time. Go back and check if the shadow has moved.

You can take the activity a step further and draw the outline of each other’s shadow on a paper.

Ask open ended questions to children to discuss what they were able to observe.

Is the shadow larger or smaller than the object and what happens when the object is rotated?
Did anything change in your tracings?
What looks different?
What do you think made the shadows move? How can you explain that?
Did the Sun move?

Invite your child to find different objects such as fruit or vegetables or else draw their own shadow.