Creating shadows can be a fun way to explore light. When sunlight travels to the earth and is blocked by an opaque object, the light can travel through it, creating a shadow. Using both natural and artificial light, explore how you can create shadows.
Indoor Shadow Exploration
Story telling with shadow puppetry is an ancient form of entertainment which uses flat articulated figures as puppets which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen. It uses shadow, the space where light from a source is blocked to change different characteristics of the puppets. China, France, India, Turkey, Thailand, and many more countries have a long history of using shadow puppetry as art and entertainment.
What you need:
Dark paper
Bright light (flashlight, flood lights, lamp, or outdoor solar light)
White tissue paper or wax paper (or a thin white sheet)
Cardboard box
Sticks (for example, skewers, chop sticks, pencils, drinking straws)
Tape
Scissors
Knife to cut cardboard
What you do:
Start by building a screen. Find the side of the box that is flat, this will be the front of the screen.
Draw a rectangle on the front of the box, leaving a 5 cm border all round.
Cut out a piece of tissue paper or wax paper that will fit on the side of the frame. Tape it into the inside of the box.
Cut the remaining sides of the box, leaving the side flaps of the frame so it will stand up on its own. The shape of the box should be like a trifold presentation board.
Build puppets using dark paper cut out shapes, figures, and objects. Use tape to attach a stick to the back of each puppet.
6. Shine the light from lamp or flashlight. Place the puppets between the light and the screen.
7. Be creative. Try adding other objects instead of paper puppets. You can even play a guessing game by placing mystery objects behind the screen and asking someone guess what it is. Try using toys or objects that have spaces such as a colander or wire baskets.
Can you make shadows with your hands? Shadowgraphy is the art of preforming using the images of hand shadows.
Outdoor Exploration
On a sunny day, go outside to explore shadows in the sun.
What you need:
Chalk
Paper tube
Dark paper
Tape
Scissors
What you do:
Explore the sun at different times of the day. Using a fixed object like a building, mark with chalk the movement of the sun at different times on pavement. This is like a sundial and a way you can tell time.
2. Trace your shadow. Using chalk, have someone trace your shadow. Or trace the shadow of different objects. Playing with perspective you can trace an object much bigger than it is.
3.Take your shadow puppets outside. Using the sun as your light, tell a shadow puppet story.
Make your own bat signal!
Design a signal or shape with a white crayon on a piece of dark paper.
2. Cut the paper around the image you want to project. Cut only the negative space or where you want the light to shine.
3. Attach the cut-out signal onto a paper tube using tape.
4. Hold the signal up so that the sun (or flashlight) can create the shape of the signal on the ground.
Explanation
All light, even sunlight, travels in waves and if something blocks the path of these waves, a shadow will be formed. The closer an object is to the light source the bigger its shadow will be. But which objects block light? Objects that are opaque don’t let the light pass though and create shadows. Objects that are translucent allow some light to pass through, but it can scatter and change the light.
The sun will give objects the longest shadow at the beginning and end of the day, because that is when the sun is lowest in the sky. The shortest shadow cast using sunlight would be in mid-day because that is when the sun is highest in the sky. At mid-day the sun is directly above us and the light rays are coming almost straight down so the shadows our bodies create are short and squat. This happens because we are blocking the light from hitting directly below us. In the morning and afternoon, the sun is lower in the sky and the light hits us at an angle, which produces long, thin shadows.
Warning: never look directly at the sun. Observe the sun through shadows.
Tips & Tricks:
Invite your children to explore shadows with different movements especially while outside in the sunlight. Find objects that move like garden pinwheels and explore what movement does to a shadow.
Storytelling is a way to expand the play. Use characters from other stories or create new ones.
As an addition to the indoor shadow play, try using different types of light. From LED to incandescent flashlight to a candle. Each form of light has different wave lengths changing how the shadow will appear.
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