Turn off the lights, grab a flashlight, and put on the greatest show of all time.
A flashlight or phone flashlight. A wall or white sheet. Your hands.
Turn off the lights and hold the flashlight steady pointing at a wall or sheet.
Start with the classics: rabbit (pointer finger and pinky up), bird (hands together, thumbs up and flapping), dog (four fingers together, thumb out). Show them one at a time.
Let them copy each shape, then take turns: you make one, they guess the animal. Then swap.
Once they have three or four shapes, encourage them to put on a short story or show. Even 30 seconds counts.
One person makes a shape without saying what it is. Others guess. First to get it right goes next.
No guessing. The shapes are characters in an ongoing story. See where it goes.
Put on a full shadow puppet performance for a parent audience. No script allowed.
Parent tip: You don't have to be good at this. Terrible shadow animals are funnier and kids love correcting you.
Turn the flashlight off and read one of these.
As an Amazon Associate and affiliate of Bookshop.org and Books-A-Million, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Want something built around what your kid loves right now?
🛠️ Build a personalized activityThe generator can build something around the same idea.