Shadow Art

Originally published 4/12/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Have kids do this project on a sunny day that isn’t too windy. They can do this in their own backyard. They’ll need to start with a large piece of white paper and a pencil. They will also need a sturdy piece of cardboard that they can use as a drawing board and a couple of binder clips to hold the paper in place as they work.

Walk around outside looking for interesting shadows. It doesn’t really matter what is casting the shadow, they’re interested in the shadows themselves. Look for shadows on the ground as well as shadows that may fall on walls. Don’t worry if the entire shadow doesn’t fit on the piece of paper. Hold the paper so an interesting part of the shadow falls across the paper.

Work quickly to trace the shape of the shadow. If there is a slight breeze the objects will move a bit, so they should do as good a job as they can; this doesn’t have to be perfect. Because of the angle of the sun, a traced shadow won’t look like an outline of the object. This can be fun because people looking at the finished artwork won’t necessarily know the inspiration for the piece. After tracing the shadow onto the paper, the kids will want to get some other art supplies. For this project, they can use watercolor paints, colored pencils, pastels, marker, crayons, etc.

Tell the kids to color in the shadow(s) however they like, using a solid color or changing colors when they want. After coloring in the shape, they may want to cut it out and glue it onto a piece of colored construction paper for additional contrast.