Let There Be Light!!

If you've been following along with our recent blogs, you may have noticed that the Ladybugs have been interested in figuring out the process of how things work! For example, recently we explored how different colours are made! Well, last Thursday the Ladybugs were presented with a unique experience (in today's world) about how an overhead projector works! An overhead projector, do you remember using those in school? We don't see them very often anymore which made this experience extra special as many of the children were seeing one for the first time!! 

The overhead projector was placed on the table with a bin of loose parts that included both solid colour and transparent loose parts with a whiteboard a couple of feet away. Immediately the children began to add piece by piece on to the projector and each time would look up at the whiteboard to see how it looked.

"Wow, look! When I put it on here you can see it on the board!" 
"It's glowing through the rock!"
"Look, I can see the shadow over there!"

.The excitement grew and grew and grew!! Everyone wanted to explore this new idea of light and shadow so a second light table was brought out.
This one was a little different as it only lit up from the bottom, and didn't project but the children were able to use different materials on this light table and get creative with it.

The children talked a lot about what the light looked like as it shined through the loose parts, or how the shadow looked as it displayed on the wall.
They worked together to brainstorm new ideas to test out after lunch, and up first was creating different faces!

Next, other items came into play such as animals and plants! The children placed the animals on the overhead projector and observed as the shadows appeared on the wall. "look! it's like a movie theatre!" one child added! 

Through this experience the children were able to expand on the ideas that they already have about lights and shadows while using their imagination to create new ideas and play in a unique way! 
We are so excited to expand on this activity and bring lights and shadows to life in the Kinder Room! Stay tuned to hear more!

- Amberly