Shadow Fun Activities for Kids

Shadow fun activities for kids teach kids about the sun, all while enjoying a summer day outside.

Time is tracked by the sun's movement and both these activities will have kids creating natural clocks. With these shadow fun activities for kids, there should be no excuses for being late to dinner!

Follow these links to start casting shadows:

Personal Shadow Clock

Arms become clock hands in this summer activity.

Sundial

In this activity, kids can recreate a traditional sundial.

Learn how to become a human clock in the first shadow fun activity on the next page.

For more summer sun fun and kids' activities, see:

Personal Shadow Clock

In this shadow fun activity, become a human clock and tell time with your own shadow. The personal shadow clock is a summer activity that will help kids track those long hours spent outside.

What You'll Need:

Chalk, rocks or sticks
Watch
Permanent marker

How to Make Personal Shadow Clock:

Step 1: Find a sunny spot outside to make the clock. Choose a place for the center of your clock.

Step 2: If you are making your clock on a patio or concrete area, mark the center with chalk. If your clock will be on a lawn or dirt area, use a rock or insert a stick in the ground to mark the center.

Step 3: To make the hour markings, go outside every hour, on the hour, and stand on the center of your clock. Then make a mark on the ground where the tip of your shadow hits.

Step 4: You can make the hour markings in the same way you marked the center, using a rock, chalk, or a stick inserted in the ground. But this time, you'll need to label the time, too!

Step 5: Write the hour number on concrete with chalk or use a permanent marker to write the hour on a rock or stick.

Step 6: After the clock is made, you can return to it at any time on another day, stand in the center, and determine the time of day by noting where the tip of your shadow lands.

In the next shadow fun activity, track time with shadows using a slightly different method.

For more summer sun fun and kids' activities, see:

Sundial

Shadow fun activities for kids teach us that as the sun moves throughout the day, so does the shadow it casts. For this summer activity, kids can create a sundial -- a sun clock that tells the time by the position of the shadow.

What You'll Need:

Newspaper
Colored poster board
Blunt scissors
Large plastic coffee can lid
Plaster of paris
Markers

How to Make Sundial:

Step 1: Cover your work surface with newspaper. Cut a triangle from colored poster board.

Step 2: Mix the plaster of paris according to package directions. Carefully pour the plaster into the plastic coffee can lid.

Step 3: Stand the triangle up in the plaster. Let the plaster dry.

Step 4: Use your sundial to tell the time. Take the sundial outside early on a sunny day. Place it where the sun will hit it all day.

Step 5: Every hour on the hour, make a mark at the shadow of the triangle. Write the hour on the plaster. Once you've marked off the hours, keep your sundial in the same spot so you can tell the time on sunny days.