Shadows can be loads of fun...

An inevitable part of us that follows us around whatever day it may be, wherever we may be, and whichever phase of life we may be in is our very own shadow.

It can grow long. It can become short and tiny. It can even make different shapes.

Just hold out a flashlight and try out various shapes that your hand/hands can make.

Can u make a bird?

Can u make a barking dog?

Can you make a hungry dog now?

How about a deer?

Shadows are also used for performing arts like in plays and dance performances.

Creative activity for children: Shadow Art

Tape white paper onto the wall. Children work with partners. One child "poses" while the partner traces his shadow. You can shine the flashlight to create a shadow print. Trace their outline shadows. You can also let them sit in a chair and trace the outline of their heads/hands.

Allow them to experiment with what their shadow can do before you do the drawing activity.
If time and interest allow, the children like to color in the outline of their shadow, draw facial features, clothes, etc. Be sure to have each child write his name by his picture.

Now, glue them onto Popsicle sticks to make shadow puppets. The shadow puppets can be now showed up on the wall and the kids can make up shadow shows (like puppet shows) and have fun making them bigger and smaller.

Remember to have someone trace your shadow too!

Did u have fun with shadows?

Seeing even in the dark!

We are born with all five senses. But sometimes, we take our senses for granted so much so that we tend to ignore them in our lives. Ask a blind man how a remote feels like and he will give you a much more vivid description of it than you.

Getting your child to experience the sense of touch can become fun if you play the blindfold.

Collect a variety of textures from your house from the rough utensil scrubber, wood, cotton, toothbrush, silk cloth etc. Put everything in a box.

Blindfold your child and let him pick up everything one by one. Ask him to guess what he is holding in his hand. This can not only be a lot of fun but also an eyeopener for you all.

Building Bridges Between Two Unrelated Ideas!

Two unrelated objects or scenes can be joined together to create a meaning. It is the way one builds associations that brings creative harmony.

Here is a video that brings the thought across:

Storytime

[I] Making a story

Every child loves listening to stories. But creating one's own story can be very exciting and thought provoking. You can take turns in telling one line of the story.You can make it interesting and amusing by bringing in different surprising leaps in the story so that your child has to connect to your piece of the story and build it further.

The story need not have any logic or make any particular sense.

The story could look something like this:

Child: There was a lion.
Adult: He was old and weak.
Child: One day he was very hungry.
Adult: So, he took the bus to the town to 'Pizza Hut' (Instead of saying, he hunted an animal, add elements to turn the direction of the story every time its your turn to make it a funny game.)
Child: But Pizza Hut was closed.
Adult: So, he called his friend, the elephant and asked him to come over.
(Soon your child will learn how to change the direction of the story without going the conventional way).
Child: But the elephant was too sleepy.

[II]: What's the ending?

Tell your baby a story and stop before the ending and ask him/her to complete it. Once you have heard his/her part of the ending, ask him/her that if Mummy/Daddy had to write the same story what type of ending would it be?

This will help him/her to think of alternative endings to the same set story.

Get hooked to story making!