Preschool Holiday Science - Halloween Shadows

Create spooky Halloween shadows on the walls of your home or classroom with this easy preschool experiment. Not only will preschoolers have a blast with this experiment, but they will be learning how to produce shadows.

What Preschoolers Will Learn:

How to make a shadow

That they need a light, an object and place for the shadow (wall, ground, floor) to create a shadow.

What You’ll Need:

Construction paper or pre-cut Halloween shapes such as a pumpkin, spooky tree, bat, witch etc.
Scissors
Two preschoolers or one preschooler and an adult
Flashlight
An empty wall

What To Do:

Step one: If you’re not using pre-cut Halloween shapes, go ahead and cut your construction paper into spooky shapes. Depending on your preschooler’s age, they may be able to do the cutting themselves, if the objects have been traced out on a piece of paper. Or print out Halloween shapes from any number of Halloween themed websites.

Step two: Have one preschooler (or adult) hold the Halloween shape up. They should stand a few feet from the empty wall.

Step three: Have the other preschooler (or adult) stand about two feet away from the preschooler holding the halloween shape. Have them point the flashlight at the Halloween shape. It should show up on the wall.

Step four: See what happens when you turn the flashlight off and on or when the preschooler holding the shape puts the shape down.

Variations:

Have preschoolers with the flashlight move closer and further away from the shape holder to see how the shape changes.

See if things change with the shadows if you use different color paper, different size flashlights and different size shapes.

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