Advent Sun Calendar: Day 19, "Shadow Land"
As we prepare for the upcoming winter solstice I thought it would be appropriate to focus how darkness and light balance each other today. And not only the darkness that comes to us at night, but the darkness that falls in the form of cast shadows as well. Embracing the interdependence, rather than constantly waiting and wishing for the light to return is somewhat refreshing. We had so much fun with our calendar prompt today. : )
Luckily we awoke to a chilly but bright and sunny day. Yay! As we looked out the window shadows crisscrossed the neighborhood. At it's core, our whole Advent Sun Calendar has centered around the counterparts of light and dark, sun and moon, day and night. The push and pull between the two create a delicate balance as the earth rotates beneath our feet and circles the ever glowing ball of light that literally holds our world in place.
Learning to accept and embrace the cold dark season has always been a challenge for me. I am always one to seek out the sun. However, I want to teach my children and myself to find the beauty in every day, not just the bright sunny summer days. This calendar has been very transformative in so many ways, as each day we have approached the season with a sense of curiousness, joy, and adventure.
My one year old daughter is a little bit afraid of the outside as it grows dark. I want to share what my almost four year old son told her one night.
He said, "Baby, don't be scared. The earth turns aways from the sun sometimes and it is night for us and daytime for someone else. It will turn towards the sun again and it will be day. So don't worry, the sun will come back."
How absolutely beautiful is that?!
Today our investigation of shadows started with a trip outside to the front yard with my daughter. We took a look at the shadows from the trees on our snow covered lawn. She didn't know what a shadow was so I used the shadow of my hand to trace the shadow of the tree and she smiled. We looked at our own shadow and moved our hand and arms to see that our bodies could make these fun shapes too. Loved to see that notion click for her!
Later in the day forest critter shadow puppets were made. Love these! To make them I just looked at forest animal silhouettes online for inspiration and drew them out on construction paper. I'm sure you could print and then trace as well. I cut out the shape and then traced it again so I could glue them together with a wooden stick between the layers.
The puppets became fun toys in and of themselves throughout the day but we used them specifically for shadow both inside and out. Our friend the owl made it outside with us for some late afternoon sunlight. Nice long shadows of my son and the owl played out across the lawn. This guy was a favorite of ours because we spent many a summer night seeking out owls on our evening walks. : )
The forest critter puppets really came to life in the evening as it grew dark outside. We set up our very own puppet show in our living room and the kids absolutely loved it! So easy yet so magical. We simply tied a piece of string across the room and hung a white sheet over it. Turned off the lights and turned on the flashlight - and voila! ~ our very own shadow puppet theatre. Highly recommend this as a fun family venture! Here is a pic of our animals parading across the sheet.
We started to play out the scene from the book, "The Bear Snores On", when the animals get a search party together to go find their lost friend bear. The kids know the story so my son got right in and acted it out. The bear in the story is lost and scared as the dark takes over on his walk to get food. As his friends set out to find him they find comfort in numbers and eventually bring bear back to the den to celebrate his return around the fire. What a fitting way to end our day - with our own celebration of dark to light.
Of course, this day of shadows has inspired me to want to do so much more shadow play! Here is a list of sites and images I've run across that may take us places soon. Hope you can find some inspiration here as well! These adventures may seem like a lot of work and time but honestly they are not that much work and well worth the time ~ every time. : )
SHADOW PLAY
Human Sun Dial - http://rhythmsofplay.com/human-sundial-shadow-science-experiment/
Handmade Shadows - http://www.lemonharanguepie.com/2011/01/fun-with-shadows-for-home-entertainers.html?spref=pi
Forest Shadow Play - https://www.flickr.com/photos/morphicx/6314481796/in/contacts/
Enchanting Shadows -
