Explore and Play: Shadow Letters

Use your own shadow to make different shaped letters.

Print Activity

Materials

sheets of chart paper with large drawings of the letters X, T, and Y
camera

Key Science Concepts

You can change the shape of a shadow by moving and turning your body or the object making the shadow or by moving the light source.
You can make shadows with your body and other objects.

Directions

Tell children that they will make different letters with their shadows.

Bring children outside and have them find their shadows.
Show children the letters you have drawn on the chart paper and ask them to identify them.
Challenge children to make these letters using their own shadows. Ask children to describe what they did with their bodies to make these shapes.
Take photos of the shadow letters to display in the Shadow Museum.

Back to Curriculum

Getting Started, Week 1, Day 3

Morning Circle
Outdoor
10 - 15 minutes

Accommodations

Younger children have difficulty making shadow shapes resembling letters. Stand next to them and have them copy your poses, then look at your shadows together.

English Language Learners may not be familiar with the names of the letters. While making the letters X, T, and Y with your shadows, say the letter names aloud. Then, make the shadows again but this time ask the children to name the letters. Have them also name the letters again later on while they’re looking at the photos of the shadow letters in the Shadow Museum learning center.

© 2024 WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. Peep and the Big Wide World and the Peep characters and related indicia are trademarks of WGBH Educational Foundation. All third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Used with permission. “Peep,” “Quack,” “Chirp,” “Tom” and “Nellie” were originally created by Kai Pindal for the National Film Board of Canada productions The Peep Show, © National Film Board of Canada, 1962, and Peep and the Big Wide World, © National Film Board of Canada, 1988. Peep and the Big Wide World ® is produced by WGBH and 9 Story Entertainment in association with TVOntario. Major funding for Peep and the Big Wide World is provided by the National Science Foundation. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1222607. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.