Drawing shadow shapes

Get creative with shadows

Creative play is a fundamental part of child development and can promote learning in the following areas: social, emotional and physical development.

In this video, LEYF’s pre-school teacher, Lukas, will be combining art and science in a fun and creative activity for pre-school children using shadows.

Children can use a range of different items to create their shadow pictures. They may want to start with simple building blocks, before moving onto more interesting shapes.

Place the item on a piece of paper and draw round the shadow it makes using a pencil or pen.

Children could try leaving the item in place for a long time and observing how the shadows change during the day. Do they get shorter or longer?

They could also try combining items by piling them up to create completely new shadow shapes to draw around. What new shapes are created from the same object when it is turned over or around?

Talk to your children about what they think will happen to the shadows as objects are rotated or combined.

Children can colour their shadow drawings in any way they like. Maybe they will use their imaginations to create something completely new from their shadow drawing?