Today, the Blazes had an exciting time exploring the fascinating world of light and dark!

We began by discussing what light and darkness actually are, exploring how light allows us to see the world around us and how darkness occurs when there is little or no light. The Blazes were incredibly engaged in our conversation, sharing their own ideas, thoughts and experiences. Their enthusiasm sparked even more curiosity, so we decided to take our learning a step further by creating our very own shadow puppet theatre!

Using our projector light, the Blazes selected their own hand puppets and experimented with creating different shadows. They had so much fun discovering how shadows are formed when an object blocks a light source. We explored lots of interesting questions together, including: What creates light? What happens when we block the light? Why do shadows change size? Can shadows move? What happens to shadows when we move closer to or further away from the light? We also discussed natural and artificial light sources, such as the sun, stars, torches, lamps and fire, and how the world changes between daytime and night-time.

Every Blaze had the opportunity to take centre stage, experiment with their puppets and see how changing the position of their hands and the distance from the light could create different shadow shapes and sizes. It was wonderful to see their creativity, confidence and curiosity shine through!

But the fun didn't stop there! We then brought a much-loved story to life by creating our very own shadow puppet performance of The Three Little Pigs! 

First, we enjoyed reading the story together, making sure everyone was familiar with the characters and the events. Then it was time for the Blazes to become the storytellers! Each child took on a different character and helped retell the story using their shadows on the projector screen. They used their imagination, communication and storytelling skills to recreate the events, bringing the characters to life in their very own shadow theatre.

To finish off our learning experience, we offered an optional sorting activity where the Blazes could put their knowledge to the test! They were challenged to categorise different objects, events and things according to whether they were associated with light or darkness. These included torches, the sun, night-time, daytime, shadows, fire and many more. This encouraged the children to think carefully, make connections and explain their reasoning.

The Blazes thoroughly enjoyed today's experience, and it was fantastic to see just how much curiosity and excitement our exploration of light and dark inspired. They were so enthusiastic that they even asked if we could put on another shadow puppet show using Stick Man next time!

What a wonderful way to combine science, storytelling, imagination and creativity through play!