shadow and light science experiment

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

• FREE Experiments
• Kitchen Science
• Climate Change
• Egg Experiments
• Fairy Tale Science
• Edible Science
• Human Health
• Inspirational Women
• Forces and Motion
• Science Fair Projects
• STEM Challenges
• Science Sparks Books
• Contact Science Sparks
• Science Resources for Home and School

Shadow Experiments and Activities for Kids

August 11, 2022 By Emma Vanstone 2 Comments

Long, sunny summer days are a great time to experiment with shadows . I’ve put together a fun list of shadow activity ideas with ( hopefully ) something to appeal to kids of all ages.

I use chalk pens for drawing shadows as they are a bit less messy than normal chalk and last a long time.

What is a shadow?

For a shadow to be formed, an object must block light. The object must be opaque or translucent to make a shadow. A transparent object will not make any shadow, as light passes straight through transparent objects.

Transparent Materials

Transparent materials let light pass through them in straight lines so that you can see clearly through them.

Translucent Materials

Translucent materials let some light through but scatter the light in different directions. We can not see clearly through translucent materials.

Opaque Materials

Opaque materials do not let any light pass through them.

Shadow Experiments for Kids

Shadow frame.

Make a shadow frame using cardboard and contact paper. These are great for experimenting with different shapes and types of materials. Try translucent and opaque materials to investigate how the colour of the shadow changes.

Draw Shadows

Use building blocks to make shapes you can draw around. Children can think about how the shadow changes when the object is rotated and observe shadows at different times of the day.

3D shapes are fun to draw around too!

I love how Rhythms of Play painted inside their shadows! Another idea is to draw around a person’s shadow and then add organs or a skeleton inside.

Sundial Experiment

Rhythms of Play also has a fantastic human sundial experiment . You can use the same idea to make a smaller version using a LEGO tower on white paper.

Another idea similar to making a sundial is to follow a shadow through the day, watching how the size and shape of a shadow formed by the same object changes!

Shadow Puppet Theatre

Build a shadow puppet theatre like Inner Child Fun. This would be great for linking shadows to literacy work.

Shadow Experiments – Shadow People

Try building people or animals with pipe cleaners. It was quite a challenge to get ours to stand up. Kids can experiment with different sizes and shapes of shadow people.

Shadow Experiments – Shadow Sculptures

The Artful Parent has some brilliant shadow sculpture s. It could be quite fun to use the same idea but make models of chemical molecules and draw the shadows too.

Shadow Puppets

Childhood 101 has some brilliant Star Wars shadow puppets .

We love these Gruffalo’s Child shadow puppets too.

You could also try some Christmas or other holiday-themed shadow puppets . We made a big Christmas tree shadow puppet and then smaller puppets for the decorations.

More Shadow Experiments

Try experimenting with shadows at different times of the day. You should find that the Sun makes the longest shadows at the beginning and end of the day when the Sun is lowest in the sky and the shortest shadows at midday when it’s highest in the sky.

Suitable for Early Years Foundation Stage

Suitable for Key Stage 2 Science

Can you think of any more shadow activities for us?

Science concepts

Last Updated on June 19, 2023 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Reader Interactions

August 20, 2016 at 7:57 pm

I love these ideas! I think my boys would enjoy painting their own shadows in particular 🙂

March 01, 2019 at 6:55 pm

I love your guyses ideas but you need to get older kid things on this websites.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Inventors of Tomorrow

Hands-on science and engineering education for kids age 3 – 6, light and shadow experiments for kids.

I teach a STE(A)M Enrichment class for kids age 3 – 6. One of the hands-on science classes we teach is about Light and Shadows. All the activities here are also great for a Groundhog Day theme at a preschool or elementary age class. This post includes

• a free kids’ book you can download and print
• a shadow play activity – you hang a sheet and shine a light – they use shadow puppets or make hand shadows or shadow dance
• hands-on science activities including shadows from an overhead projector, a sundial craft, a laser maze game, and more
• art projects – shadow puppets, paint shadows, silhouettes and sun prints
• circle time activities and song
• recommended books and videos
• an arts extension activity – build a shadow puppet theatre and write a play

Book / Overview of the Science

I wrote a kids’ non-fiction book which covers all the key ideas about light and shadow. It includes lots of easy experiments to try. You can read it (or print a copy) here .

With our class structure, we begin with “discovery time”, where the kids have an opportunity to explore all the activities hands-on, and start discovering how things work, testing theories, and making observations. This allows questions to naturally arise, raising their curiosity about what’s happening. Then we have opening circle, where we read pages 1 – 10 and 19 – 20 of the book, which explains the phenomena they’d observed. We also do the demos included in the book during circle, and then encouraged them to try out all those same experiments during our “tinkering time” where they return to exploring all the activities, this time with a theoretical framework for what they’re seeing. In closing circle, we read pages 11 – 18 about about daytime and night-time shadows, and pages 21 – 22 which talk about shadow puppet theatre and hand shadows – this prepares us for reading  Shadow Night.

Shadow Play

Shadow play set-up.

The surface : You could simply shine a bright light on a wall or a white board, and let your children dance between the light and the wall. But, it’s even cooler if you can see BOTH sides of the surface the shadow is cast on. My co-teacher built a fabulous screen of a white sheet supported by a PVC frame. It was held up by two very heavy patio umbrella stands so even with a fair amount of rough-housing, it never came close to tipping over. Alternatively, you could hang a white shower curtain or sheet in a doorway, either with a tension rod, or just taping it above the door frame.

The light : Behind the screen, we use an LED Work Light, which is very bright, but cool to the touch . (PLEASE don’t use an incandescent or halogen shop light as they can get very hot!!) We happen to have an interior room with no windows, so it’s easy to get the room dark enough to get good shadow effects – it might be harder in a window-filled room.

You could also use colored lights. (Read about our multi-colored light experiment .)

The “invitations to play”:

Hand Shadows:  We put up posters showing diagrams of hand positions for shadow puppets to inspire them to play with hand shadows. I made a poster  showing how to do the 7 shadow puppets that appear in the book Shadow Night which we would read in closing circle. (see below)

Shadow Puppets : Stuffed animals and shadow puppets that they can use to make shadows. They could also make their own shadow puppets to test. (See below.)

Shadow Dancing : Or kids can just do crazy dances behind the screen! (Often kids on the “audience” side of the screen mimic the motions of the child behind the screen.)

Flashlight Play : We also offer lots of flashlights, mirrors and toys, so kids could freely play with reflecting light, and with playing with how they can change the size and shape of a toy’s shadow depending on how close or far away they hold the flashlight, and what angle they hold the flashlight at related to the toy. (This is a direct echo of some experiments from our book.)

Hanging shadows . You could hang a clothesline across a room and hang a lot of items on it. Hand the child a flashlight and turn off the lights – they can walk up and down the line, shining the flashlight at all angles, finding the shadow in the room.

Light and Shadow Science Exploration

Projector Shadows : We have an overhead projector , so set it out with some opaque items (blocks, etc.) and some glass tile samples that make really cool shadows. Here’s a picture of the items on the projector surface and then their image on the wall. We use this again in Rainbows week.

Challenge of the Week – Engineering Project: Sundial. Create a sundial with a paper plate, straw or pencil, tape, glue and glass globules.

If you’re with your kids / students all day on a sunny day, here’s the process: Poke a hole in the center of the plate. Tape a pencil or straw upright in the hole. On an hour mark (at 9:00 exactly or 10:00 or whatever), take the plate outside, and tape it in place in the sun. Mark a line where the shadow falls, and write the time. An hour later, come check the shadow and mark a line for the time again. Repeat on the hour all day long till your sundial is complete. The next day, check it again to show that it’s still working. You can pick up and move the sundial as long as every time you set it down, you orient it the same way. (More info on this project at: www.nwf.org/Kids/Family-Fun/crafts/sundial.aspx or www.kidsplaybox.com/kids-crafts-homemade-sun-dial/ )

Since we only have our students for a couple hours, and since the weather forecast in Seattle is often gray skies and rain, my co-teacher preps a template a few days ahead of time (on a beautiful sunny day) and we do a slightly different process. We put the pencil in the center of a plate, then slide on the paper template, which is smaller in diameter than the plates, then the child marks off all the times. Then we remove the templates and they decorate their sundials. We use a flashlight to illustrate how as the sun moves through the sky, the shadow shifts to indicate the time of day.

As you can see from the third photo, sometimes we put out the supplies for one project (a sundial) and children do something completely different than we had expected… we’re OK with that. (Our only rule for projects is “Be Creative, Not Destructive”, aka “Make not Break.”) We still showed this child how the shadow would shift as the day went on, landing on different Shopkin drawings at 8 am than it did at 1 pm.

Optional Outside Activity, if the sun is shining: Students set-up their sundials in the sunshine and see where the shadow falls – and check whether it’s correct about the time.

Laser Maze. We own a great board game called Laser Maze . It’s a Think Fun game, where there are a series of puzzles of increasing difficulty. The child sets up the board as shown on the card, then turns on a laser, sees where it’s shining, and adds mirrors and obstacles to the board to re-direct the light into the goal for the puzzle. Teaches not only the idea of reflecting light, but also a good logic puzzle. Our little kids just dinked around with the pieces, but kids age 5 and up became totally absorbed in working their way through the puzzles.

Reflection – Mirror Boxes. We also built simple mirror boxes (taping together three square mirrors in a half-a-cube shape), and gave kids materials to arrange in there to make symmetrical patterns. Learn more about mirror boxes at Imagination Tree . BabbleDabbleDo has some fun templates kids con color in and check out the reflections of. I also like the flexible, cuttable mirrors , that you can bend to different angles. Or you can tape two mirrors together so they have a flexible hinge you can adjust. Learn more at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/corner-reflector

STEAM Activity: Exploring Light Refraction:  Put out glass jars and containers, some filled with water, some not. Have posters with different color stripes, and an arrow. Have kids look through an empty jar at the poster. Then pour water into the jar – the image flips.  Have them experiment with the different size jars, with different size drawings and moving the image closer or further away. http://gosciencegirls.com/refraction-light-glass-water-play-steam-kids/    (Note: Refraction is the light bending when it hits the water. Diffraction is light spreading out around an obstacle.)  I’ll warn you – I’ve had mixed success with this activity. I’ll test it at home and it works perfectly, and I bring the exact same glass to class, and it won’t work there. I’m not sure why. 😦

Light Table and Water Table: Some years, we have the light table out with a variety of translucent items for free exploration and, separately, the water table filled with colorful water beads floating in water, and a couple flashlights to shine on them, to shine up through the bottom of the table. Other years, we put the light table under the water table to shine up through there. and put all the translucent items in the water.

Art Projects

Shadow Puppets . We had cardstock, markers, scissors, tape, and popsicle sticks so they could make their own shadow puppets. The first year, we made the mistake of putting out white paper and no examples, and there were some puppets that were lovely stick puppets (first picture below). But all those marker decorations on the dragon will never show up in a shadow. What we needed to communicate better was that the point of a shadow puppet is the outline / silhouette. So, in other years, we had some sample puppets, and  a poster with more  sample puppets to give kids a better sense of what kinds of designs to make. (For preschool age, you may just want to offer pre-designed shapes to cut out.)

Art Project : Paint Shadows  (Source for idea: http://tippytoecrafts.blogspot.com/2012/02/negative-art.html )

Basic idea : A child lays their hand on a piece of paper, with fingers spread wide, and you spray paint on to it. (Tell them this is like sunshine shining on their hand – the light rays will spread outward and continue till they run into something that blocks them, and that makes a shadow.) When they lift their hands off, a shadow is left behind. Here’s a poster  to explain the idea… The poster also includes photos of several ancient cave paintings of paint shadow hands , including some from Indonesia believed to be 40,000 years old.

Logistics : We filled a spray bottle with white kid-safe / easy clean-up paint mixed with water… the goal was to thin it enough that it would spray easily and not clog the sprayer, but not so thin that it would run. You can either put a piece of paper on the easel, and this is a take-home project OR you can cover a whole table with paper and do a group artwork. The first year, we’d planned for the kids to do the spraying themselves (good fine motor practice) but with our sprayer, if you were too close to the paper (i.e. kid’s arm-length away), the paint stream was too focused. You had to stand back a few feet to get a nice spread-out spray of paint – and no kid could stand that far back and not make a big mess! So, we now just have an adult do the spraying. Have a tub of soapy water and a towel right next to this project so they can wash their hands right away.

Shine a Flashlight Craft

We found this idea at Gilbert House Children’s Museum in Salem, OR. To prep: cut the beam shape out of black paper. Fasten the black paper to the yellow paper with a brad paper fastener. Then add the flashlight to the black paper. Children turn the top paper to “shine the flashlight” somewhere, and add a sticker or a drawing to show what the flashlight revealed. Turn the beam again and add more pictures.

Here is an alternate method from https://giphy.com/gifs/jOmTdhe0FhSe8EXMI5 . First draw pictures on a ziplock bag. Then, put black paper inside the bag. Make a paper flashlight with a white beam. slip it between the black paper and the drawings on the bag and move it around to illuminate the drawings.

Sculptural-Engineering Activity:   Kids sculpt a shape or cut a shape from aluminum foil, then tape it to a cardstock square. Then they place it in front of a bright lamp and trace the shadow then colored in the shadow. (Source of idea: http://doodles-and-noodles.blogspot.com/2012/10/figurative-sculpture.html )

This activity is best for 6 – 7 year olds. The younger ones have a harder time figuring out how to make a three dimensional sculpture. If you’re working only with little ones, you might find it better to just use plastic toys / action figures and have them trace and color in their shadows on paper. I prefer the sculpture activity where they go home with BOTH the shadow tracing AND the sculpture it’s based on, but for little ones, it was just too tricky.  If you use toys, be sure to choose ones that make fun shadows!

Mural of kids’ shadows . You could tape a big piece of paper on the wall. Then shine a big light or projector at it. Have kids stand by the wall so their shadows fall on the paper. Trace their shadows.

Silhouettes . Put paper on wall. Have the child sit sideways in front of the table. Shine a bright light on them and trace their silhouette. I recently had a conversation with someone about how this was a “thing” in the 60’s or 70’s, so all of us who were kids back then remember having a silhouette of ourselves.

Projection Tubes: I love this easy idea from Moon Child Adventures . Cover one end of a TP tube with saran wrap. Rubber band it. Put a foam sticker on. Now shine a light through it at the wall. It projects the image.

Summer Activity : Sunprints. You can purchase special photo-sensitive paper (called sun prints, or  Sun Art Paper .) You set it outside in the sunshine, with various items on it for a period of 15 minutes to a few hours (depending on the product and how bright the sun is), then you remove the items. and you’ve captured the image / shadow permanently. (See example here .)  They’re really VERY cool – I love them. BUT… in the Pacific Northwest, I find that they don’t tend to work most of the year – our winter sunlight just isn’t intense enough. I have gotten them to work on very sunny summer days. Opening Circle:

This is how we did it last year, before I wrote the book we used this year.

We asked the kids what makes light – what light sources could they think of. As they suggested them, we drew them up on the board to reinforce what was said.

We demonstrated a few light sources, including a flashlight that created a very diffuse light and a laser pointer which created a very focused light.

We then talked about shadows and when they see them, and what makes them, and so on. We demo’ed some hand shadow puppets on the screen. We did a little mini puppet show with some paper shadow puppets.

We talked about the difference between Opaque Shadows = No light getting through and Translucent shadows = Some light shining through, and demo’ed this with some colorful scarves and the translucent Duplos.

Song – We’re still looking for a great sing-along about light or shadows for circle. A couple options, both to the tune of Frere Jacques  ( Source  1; Source 2 ), and my variant. Have the kids mimic the shadow shapes as you sing about them..

I see shadows,  I see shadows, On the wall,  In the hall. Some are short and scary, Some are round and hairy, Some are small, Some are tall.

Another song is to the Itsy Bitsy Spider tune:

My Itsy Bitsy Shadow Follows Me Around. The sun is 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 in on the next sunny day.

There’s also Hi Shadow and Bindi’s Shadow Song .

Closing Circle

One teacher read the book Shadow Night (see below) while the other acted out the puppet show with hand puppets at the shadow screen. One of my favorite circle times of the year! (Note: one year we didn’t have the book, because we failed to pick it up at the library the day before. So I scribbled out a similar  Shadow Story that we could use.) Books (contains affiliate links)

Stories about Shadows

• Lights Out  by Medearis and Tadgell. Part of the Just for You series featuring African American families. Nice illustrations, good rhythm and rhyme to the text. “‘Good night, sleep tight!’ Daddy tucks me in. Out go the lights. Now the fun begins!” Sweet story of a daddy tucking a child in to bed, then her sneaking out to look at the city lights and make hand shadow puppets and then sneak back into bed. Nice preschool read-aloud or easy read for a new reader.

Non-Fiction Books on Light and Shadow

• What Makes a Shadow by Bulla, illus by Otani. ( Video of read-aloud.) This is an engaging, clear overview of the science of shadows for kids age 4 – 6. Highly recommended. It’s a little long to read straight through for a preschool level, but could be broken up into two group times.
• Oscar and the Moth: A Book About Light and Dark  by Waring. This book is a conversation between a cat and a moth that explains how the earth rotates and that causes day and night, explains that light can come from the sun, the stars, electric light, and animals that emit light. It also explains that shadows happen when something blocks the light. A nice overview of lots of scientific ideas, told in a way that not only makes sense to preschool age children, but is engaging as well.
• Follow It!: Learn About Shadows by Hall. Non-fiction, covers all the basic ideas about shadows. Does a great job of gathering the key ideas about shadows, but the writing isn’t very engaging. Good resource for ages 4 – 6.
• Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From  by Branley and Schuett. Branley worked at the Hayden planetarium and has written many kids’ science books. Like his other books, this is a really good summary of the scientific facts, for kids 5 – 8. We don’t read his books in class because they’re too long and over the heads of half our kids, but they’re quite good.
• More ideas for demos and activities here: https://stardate.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/teachers/ShadowPlay.pdf
• There’s some great Sid the Science Kid episodes on Light and Shadow. Find it atL  http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/sid-the-science-kid/?topic_id=339  or https://kcts9.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/47861fd4-683a-4924-b490-3d53055309af/47861fd4-683a-4924-b490-3d53055309af/#.W0kXUdJKiM8
• There’s a Sid online game where kids have to guess what shapes are put together to make a shadow. You’ll need to manipulate the mouse, but a 4 year old should be able to play the game effectively.  http://pbskids.org/sid/shadowshow.html
• Peep and the BWW also has a shadow episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty0C8mH4Jy8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kVRQTfzS-I
• This video shows simple hand puppet shadows to make: https://vimeo.com/59196587 . (I bet if you search on YouTube you’ll find lots more examples.)   There are multiple free apps you can download that show you lots of different hand puppet shadows to make… just go to your app store and search for hand shadow puppets. If you want to see a couple of amazing professional hand puppeteer shows, check out youtube.com/watch?v=hFe7eLwAXoc and youtube.com/watch?v=CPFto6ghMV4
• Watch Grover from Sesame Street sing about his Furry Little Shadow .
• Watch a violinist play with her shadow in this very cool video…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=JGCsyshUU-A
• Another out of control shadow… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRMhoJCQN_0

Optional Arts Extension – Shadow Puppet Theatre

• Make a shadow puppet theatre using a cereal box and either waxed paper or printer paper. There are great how-to tutorials both at Jimmie Lanley’s Hub Page (which also includes links to other info about shadow puppets) and on the website for Kix cereal .
• For a great tutorial on all the steps to creating a puppet show (writing or choosing your story, finding images for characters and props, making your puppets, building a screen, rehearsing and performing), see My Kids Adventures . It also includes a link to a ten minute documentary on traditional Chinese shadow theatre.
• More info on shadow puppets at Coolest Family on the Block .
• Watch a shadow puppet show here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b04NqLb7Myc.  You can watch a kid-created shadow play at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqzv162GBWg  Or, for a beautiful work of art, watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR6_m_qXbKg&t=215s

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

35 comments

[…] Light and Shadow Experiments for Kids […]

These are all such wonderful ideas! Thanks for inviting me over to take a look!

Hello! For one of my classes, I am teaching a group of students about light and shadows and love the building activity:) Where did you get the translucent duplos?

They are in the supply closet at my classroom, but I have no idea where they came from. They are not Duplo brand, but are “duplo compatible” – and thus not as nice quality. If you search for “clear Duplo” on Amazon, this is what comes up: https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Briks-Turquoise-Magenta-Builder/dp/B01F9FCM56/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1490316318&sr=1-3&keywords=clear+duplo

Thank you! 🙂

[…] Theme – Light and Shadow […]

[…] Physics: Magnets, Gravity; Light and Shadow, Rainbows […]

[…] on wheel week,  a KEVA Wrecking Ball and Keva blocks on towers week, Magna-Tiles when we study light and shadows (note, Playmags are much cheaper than Magna-Tiles, but I haven’t had a chance to compare […]

[…] To learn about how to make other weather station tools (a thermometer, a rain gauge and a weather chart), check out this post on DIY Weather Station tools. For lots of other fun weather related STEM activities for kids, check out our lesson plans on Weather and on Rainbows. You could also learn how to make a sundial in our post on Shadows. […]

[…] needed a transitional topic between our units on Light, Shadow, and Rainbows and our units on Earth Science, Planets and Stars; Weather is a logical follow-up to […]

Awesome, awesome, awesome!! Thanks for all the great stuff!! I enjoy your posts and great ideas!!!

Videos For Kids – https://www.uspstudios.co

All interesting for kids, I enoyed looking through this site.

[…] Light and Shadow Oreos? (And milk to dip them in.) Or something with distinctive silhouettes (like animal crackers) that they could shine a bright flashlight at and see its shadow on the table before eating it. […]

[…] our Light and Shadows class, we put up a shadow screen and use a shop light and let the kids make hand shadows, and […]

[…] Shadow play. Hang a sheet in a doorway. Put a lamp behind it. The child can dance around between the lamp and the sheet, putting on a shadow show for an audience on the other side. […]

[…] Just a few of the science themes are: Planets and Space Travel; Human Body; Chemical Reactions Light and Shadow; Sink or […]

[…] making sides match, paint half a butterfly then fold the paper to print the other half, or make a mirror box where they can put a toy in the center and see its reflection in multiple […]

[…] have used plastic straws for our thaumatropes and our sundials. I could substitute dowels or pencils in both those projects, though I’ll have to think about […]

[…] image: https://inventorsoftomorrow.com/2017/01/09/light-and-shadow-experiments-for-kids/ […]

[…] day could be a great day to bring in some rainbow activities or have fun with light and shadow. For lots more ideas, including optical illusions, look […]

[…] have lots more hands-on science activities about Light and Shadow. Or you may also be interested in our DIY Weather […]

[…] In a separate post, I have LOTS more light and shadow experiments. […]

[…] Wrecking Ball and Keva blocks on towers week, Crystal Climbers and  Magna-Tiles when we study light and shadows (note, Playmags are much cheaper than Magna-Tiles, but I haven’t had a chance to compare […]

[…] Simple Machines, Keva blocks on towers week, translucent blocks and  Magna-Tiles when we study light and shadows (note, Playmags are much cheaper than Magna-Tiles, but I haven’t had a chance to compare […]

[…] Music & Movement Monday-Shadow Play […]

[…] and describes the movement of the sun, moon and stars. (Day and night, moon phases, shadows, […]

[…] shadow screen – build a simple PVC frame to hang thin white cotton fabric, put a bright shop light behind it and chairs for an audience in front of it, and children can perform shadow dances, do shadow puppet shows, and make hand shadows on it. You can also place an old style overhead projector behind it (or where it can shine on a wall) and children can place items on it that create interesting shadows […]

[…] Source: inventorsoftomorrow.com […]

[…] Learn More: Inventors of Tomorrow […]

[…] kits, Keva blocks on towers week, translucent blocks and  Magna-Tiles when we study light and shadows (note, Playmags are much cheaper, but they aren’t as high of quality, so I would choose […]

[…] times throughout the day to visually depict the Earth spinning on its axis. Learn More: Inventors of TomorrowAllow physics to meet creativity when you encourage your students to construct a catapult out of […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Rhythms of Play

Art, Crafts, DIY; Raising Creative Outdoor Kids

Fun Shadow Activities and Experiments for Kids

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Updated: February 2, 2023 Published: January 9, 2020 6 Comments

• Share on Facebook 292
• Save to Pinterest 2.8K

Here’s a list of fun educational shadow activities and science experiments for kids with several fun ways to play with shadows to learn about light and shadow outdoors and indoors.

Shadow activities and experiments can help children learn what a shadow is and how shadows are formed through experience. This list of interactive indoor and outdoor shadow activities for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and elementary-aged kids is perfect for groundhog day on February 2, or year-round fun at home or in the classroom. And, of course, summer break is also a great time to play and learn with shadows. You might also enjoy learning about Imbolc , an ancient spring holiday also on February 2.

What is a shadow, and how are shadows formed?

This post is filled with interactive outdoor shadow activities for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and elementary-aged kids that are perfect for groundhog day and year-round fun at home or in the classroom!

A shadow is made when an object, plant, animal, or person blocks light. The thing that blocks the light must be translucent or opaque for a shadow to form because light can pass through transparent objects.

Light travels away from the source in straight lines. When an object blocks a light source, it creates a shadow. Shadows fall away from the light and form in the opposite direction of whatever is blocking the light source. This means that three things must be present to make a shadow.

Related: Kid’s Books That Teach Important Life Lessons

Three things are needed to make a shadow:

• a source of light.
• an object to block it.
• a surface behind the object for the shadow to fall upon.

The sun is a natural light source, while a lamp or flashlight is an artificial light source. And the size and shape of a shadow will depend on the size and position of the light source compared to the relative size and angle of the object blocking the light.

Related: Outdoor Activities for Kids

7 Educational Shadow Activities and Science Experiments for kids

This list of educational shadow activities and science experiments makes learning about shadows and how they are formed fun. Try the shadow play ideas and experiments on the list below as a hands-on way for kids to learn more about the sun, shadows, and the science of light. These fun shadow activity ideas are great for groundhog day and year-round learning fun. You might also enjoy this list of Rainy Day Activities .

1. Play with your shadow

There are so many fun ways to play and learn with your shadow. A child’s imagination is an endless source of inspiration. Have a tea party with your shadow, play games with your shadow, or invite some friends to play shadow tag!

How to Play Shadow Tag

Shadow tag is best played outdoors on a sunny day. The main idea is to step on another player’s shadow to “tag” them.

• Start by selecting the player that will be “It” or the “tagger.”
• Before starting play, decide if there will be a “base” or place where players can be temporarily safe from “tagging” if they need a minute to rest and where this “base” will be.
• On the word go!, all players try to keep their shadow from getting tagged by the person that is “It,” while the player that is “It” does their best to step on another player’s shadow to “tag” them.
• When another player is tagged by “It” or the “tagger,” that player then becomes “It.”
• Continue to play until the players decide to end the game of shadow tag.

Chasing Shadow Play

My daughter’s favorite playtime activity with her shadow is to be chased by it. Whenever she notices that her shadow is following her on one of our daily walks, she shrieks with joy and tries to run away from it as if it were chasing her.

She continually looks over her shoulder at it as she runs, chirping with excitement and giggling with joy–Oh, to be a kid again!

Related: Best Board Games for Kids and Families

2.  Dance with your shadow

Put on some fun music in a sunny outdoor area where children can see their shadows and have fun dancing with them. Feel free to add shaker eggs and other musical instruments of your choice.

Add in more fun by turning off and on the music and having your kids freeze when the music stops. Your kids will have difficulty not giggling at their silly frozen shadows. Speaking of music, are you looking for kids’ music that won’t drive you nuts, click on the link!

3. Experiment with Shadows

Blocking different light sources with different objects at different angles will form different kinds of shadows.

Encourage children to experiment and have fun playing and learning with shadows. Invite children to try any of the simple shadow experiments listed below.

• Play with natural sources of light versus artificial sources of light.
• Experiment with casting shadows on a surface–wall, floor, table, etc.
• See what happens when you move objects at different angles.
• Experiment with the difference between translucent, transparent, and opaque objects.

Related: Science Experiment with Watercolor Resist Mediums

4. Human Sundial Shadow Science Experiment

This shadow experiment for kids is both fun and educational. Making human sundials with my classmates in elementary school was so much fun that I decided to try it with my daughter as a homeschool lesson. She loved it! Pop over to look at our Human Sundial Shadow Science Experiment to learn how to conduct shadow science experiments with children at home or in the classroom.

5.  Make Shadow Art

Making art with shadows is another fun shadow activity for kids. Shadow art can be done indoors, with artificial light, and outdoors in the sunlight.

There are two primary ways to create shadow art. One way to create shadow art is by tracing or drawing shadows to create shadow art. Another creative way to make shadow art is by making sculptures that cast realistic shadows on a wall, table, or surface.

Shadow sculptures are fun to make with random objects, pieces of wood, paper, and even junk! You can use anything with a bit of creativity to cast artistic shadows upon a wall, floor, or another surface. Some of the shadow art in the video below will blow your mind!

Indoor Shadow Art Instructions:

• Choose a light source to cast shadows upon objects, etc.
• Find an object, or objects, to block the light and create shadows with them.
• Either create art with shadows similar to the sculptures shown in the video or trace and color the shadows to create art.

Shadow Art Supplies for Tracing and Coloring Shadows:

Use any or all of the following to draw or color shadows to create shadow art. Look at this list of the best art supplies for our favorite recommendations, or visit our Amazon Store .

• Drawing paper, watercolor paper , or poster board
• Colored pencils
• Chalk paint
• Tempura paint
• Watercolor paint
• Acrylic Paint

Outdoor Shadow Art Instructions:

Bring art supplies outside to an area where the sun is shining and look for shadows to trace, shade, or paint. Place a piece of paper under the shadow, choose your artistic medium, and get creative! Or, try Shadow Art Outdoor STEAM for kids

6. Make Shadow Puppets

Making shadow puppets is another form of shadow art that makes experimenting with blocking light and creating shadows fun for kids.

Invite children to block light with their hands and arms to cast animals and other fun shapes onto a wall, screen, or curtain. Simple shadow puppets include a dog, a bunny, and a bird. The video below shares how to make shadow animals with your hands–watch it with the kids!

7. Take Pictures of Your Shadow Antics

This shadow activity is always a hit with my daughter. You can see some of our shadow fun in the photo of our family in the shadow below.

Taking pictures of your shadow can be tricky, and it’s hard to find a way to take a picture without seeing the camera in the photo. In the image below, I held a point-and-shoot camera at my chest.

It’s also hard to take pictures of other people’s shadows without finding some part of your own shadow in the frame, but it is sure fun to try!

Shadow Science for Kids

The educational activities and shadow science experiments for kids listed above are a hands-on way to learn about shadows, the sun, and the science of light, and that makes most of these activities perfect for Groundhog’s Day on February second, or year-round fun. You might also enjoy learning about Imbolc , an ancient sabbat festival that shares the same date. 

More Activities and Experiments for Kids

• Sorting and Classifying Rocks
• Coin Sorting Montessori Sensorial Activity
• Experiment with Watercolor Resist
• Rock Balancing and Stone Stacking
• Rainbow Rainy Day Art
• Magnet Fishing: Cool Science for Kids

In case we haven’t met outside with the kids…

Hi, I'm Nell--My goal is to make parenting and educating children more fun and meaningful! Let me show you how to use the power of rhythm to plan your week so you can relax and enjoy life! Learn more…

Ready to put the to-do list on autopilot?

Learn how to create rhythms and routines that keep everything in order and help the whole family THRIVE. Opt-in below, and we’ll send the QuickStart Guide straight to your email inbox!

Other Posts You Might Enjoy

Turkey Vegetable Lasagna Recipe: Cooking with Kids

Thankful Turkey Printable Thanksgiving Placemats to Color

Hand-Beaded Rainbow Suncatcher Craft

How to Make a Mud Pie: Nature Art Activity for Kids

Reader interactions, leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

What fun ideas! Shadows are such a fun topic to cover and being able to get outside and play makes it even more so. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! My daughter loves playing with her shadow so we are always coming up with fun new ideas. So glad you like them! 🙂

I love the shadow art pictures. My youngest likes jumping on my shadow when I’m walking along. I’ll give these ideas a go with her.

Oh, thanks for reminding me Debbie… Shadow tag is another fun game!

I think these shadow activities are a great way to teach children to understand the rules of reflection. The theory of reflection of light can help them in excelling in many games such as caroms. Thanks for sharing the pictures of this interesting activity. The kids look really cute in these pictures.

I agree Sachin, these shadow activities are a great way to understand some of the rules of reflection. So glad you like it!

• Arts & Crafts
• DIY Projects
• Kids Activities
• Life with Kids

• Back To Top