- Play with flashlights in a dark room. You could also hide a letter L (cut out of paper, a foam letter or a plastic letter magnet) somewhere in the room. Use your flashlights to find the letter L!
- Prisms & Sunshine = Rainbows!
- Give the kids a prism (I’ve seen them in craft stores. You can also try using a clear glass filled with water or find them here).
- Hold it up to the sunshine coming directly through the window (or try a flashlight on a cloudy day).
- Watch all of the rainbows on the wall and floor! My kids like to try to catch the rainbows.
- See if the kids can name all of the colors they see.
- Draw a rainbow on a piece of paper.
- Play with mirrors in the sunlight (make light reflections on the wall)
- Make shadows
- Hang a white sheet so it's smooth.
- In a darkened room, set a toy behind the sheet and shine a light on it. The shadow will appear on the sheet.
- Have the kids guess what it is.
- OR … let the kids take turns dancing or making hand shapes behind the sheet.
- Match shadows
- Print out 8-10 clipart images (car, tree, cat, truck, ball, etc)
- Stack a piece of black construction paper behind the clipart and cut them out. You will end up with a color image and it's shadow.
- Let the kids match them.
- Play with a Lite Brite … available here for about $15 or stores like Target or Wal-Mart.