As the days are getting shorter, or more accurately, the hours of light are getting shorter and it is dark for longer periods of time, it seemed a good time to explore light and dark. I’ve explored similar topics before, but this was a different combination of books and activities.
We began with Lemony Snicket’s The Dark. It’s October, and I appreciate that this book can empower children to overcome their fear of the dark. We talked about who sleeps with a nightlight, and how the character uses a flashlight.
Then I shared Oscar and the Moth by Geoff Waring, one of a series of fantastic preschool science books featuring Oscar the Cat. It talks about animals that come out at night (like the moth) as well as animals that make their own light (like the anglerfish). And it talks about making shadows, which was one of our activities. I set up the projector on a blank wall, and the kids and parents made shadows. Such a simple activity — and it was so popular!
We also painted with light, using iPads and flashlights. See this post about how to paint with light.We used the LongExpo Free app (which works on iPad as well as iPhone), though there is probably a newer app as well (recommendations welcome!)
Another station was a light table — fun to mix colors and build in the dark!
We also put on our safety glasses and explored with squishy circuits. We had done a dance (Hap Palmer’s Switch on the Music) and explored electricity with an electricity stick. The main idea was that circuit sounds like circle — and the electricity has to go in a circle in order to work. We can see that when the lights light up! See this post on squishy circuits.
Cultivate Wonder 