Classroom Ideas
This idea was given to us by Horsford Infant School Year 1 teacher Amy Pengilley:
Here is a simple activity for teachers to use with their class to spark the children’s imagination through creative story telling in a fun and low cost way. It is also a great way to encourage shy children to interact with the class.You need to have a class puppet. You can either use one you already have, or invest in a new one. When you introduce the puppet to the class, (give it a name) explain about the puppets character and behaviour. This is no ordinary puppet, but a very naughty puppet who is forever getting into mischief and trouble!The children’s names are placed in a bag, and then drawn to see who is taking it home for the weekend. What will he get up to when one of your students takes him home for the weekend? When the child returns with the puppet after the weekend, encourage them to tell the class the story of the trouble they got into.
If you use this idea, please remember to send us any photos or stories that the children have created and we will share them on our website! Email your news to: education@puppettheatre.co.uk
So you want to learn about shadows?
A group of children, an overhead projector and a projection surface- such as a wall, a sheet or even a piece of paper- is all you need to explore a range of materials and the creation of shadows.
Children and teachers alike have found that using an old over-head projector is an exciting and powerful way to develop creativity and present a shadow story, a dance or create a whole new world! So don't throw away that dusy old OHP! I know you have all those flashy digital projectors in school now - but consider using your old OHP as a great creative tool for conducting some of the exercises below!
Using an over-head projector is a fantastic way to explore qualities of materials and to create your own shadow characters and settings!
To explore light and shadow and qualities of materials with Foundation stage children, why not collect together some interesting shaped objects and materials for the following exercise.
Try to collect a mixture of:
-Solid objects
-Translucent/see through objects
-3D and 2D objects
-Interesting shapes
-Different coloured pieces of paper or tissue
-Different coloured pieces of cellophane
-Things from nature (leaves, feathers, pebbles etc)
-Man made materials (plastic bags, cloth, wool etc)
Ask the children to place the different objects on top of an OHP and then look at and talk about the shadows projected!
Some things look very different in shadow- they can lose all their colour!
Some things look magical!
Try creating colourful mosaic collages by placing coloured glass globs or pieces of cellophane on the over-head projector flat surface.
Then try to create black and white collages using solid or mon-translucent obejects.
See what happens when the children stand in the light (when objects are on the surface of the OHP)- Can they catch the shadows on their T-Shirts?
Older Key-stage 1/2 children can create intricate pictures and scenery on the OHP. They can interact with the scenery using their own shadow or with simple shadow puppets.
Or why not create a movement piece using shadow projection? This will work best if the children wear white t-shirts.
Place some different coloured cellophane or objects on the over-head projector and play some music. Encourage the children to move into space where the images are being projected and see what happens when they catch the shadows and colours on their clothes. You can create some fun illusions- children can use their hands, their clothes or can hold small pieces of paper to catch the shadows of the objects placed on the over-head projector!
