Flashlights and Fun!

Reading/Writing

The children were reading the book out loud, making noises to go along with the story and even adding in actions and pronouncing words they didn't know

Hidden Alphabet Search: Board with all wooden Alphabet letters, hide 3-4 at a time and the child has to go searching with their light to find them.

Shooting Star Alphabet Search: Hide letters on a clear wall or surface and have child hold flashlight, they have 30 seconds to find it and call it out.

Animal Scan: The children have 45 seconds to use their flashlights to find as many animal cards they can and write them down or remember them

Sand Letters: Using the light table and index cards, the children will write down the word on the image card like C-A-T for a picture of the cat.

Books on space/Constellations/ Planets

"The very lonely firefly"

Props for the story book

"A rainbow of my own"

Writing words with neon highlighters

Word Projecters: long plastic tube, put plastic wrap on one end and rubber band it so it's tight, use dry erase markes to write a word and stick a small flashlight through the side and point it at wall to make a word projector!

STEAM: Children were interacting with one another and using their imagination to make different activities out of a single flashlight

Flashlight Constellations: Discovering a few of the different types of constellations there are using drawings against flashlights

Paper Mache Solar System: we could use LED lights (small ones) to fill up the planets and light up our solar system

DIY Starry Night Actvity: Paint on a canvas using different sized foil balls.

Building a Kaledisocpe: The children can use materials like glitter, cellophone paper and carboard to create their own kalediscope.

Rainbow Scratch art: children will paint colourful patterns on paper that paint it black and use a pencil or edge of paintbrush to scratch draw a new painting on top in rainbow colorus!

Glow in the Dark Painting

A large shadow cut out laid on the table

Fireworks in a jar Experiment

Light Reflection Experiment: What surfaces reflect and absorb light?

CD Light Reflection Experiment

Flashlight Math League: Write a couple numbers on the board and divide children in two teams, each teams player has a flashlight they have to use to point at the number on the board to the math question asked

Light Table Puzzles: Draw out puzzle pieces on transparent paper and have the children form the puzzle on the light table

Light table Cup stacking Race: Children will be in small groups and have to work together to stack plastic cups in the tallest and strongest tower structure they can make on the light table

Colour Mixing with mini flashlights and colourful cellophone paper

Pretend/Dramatic Play

The children were making animal noises as they read their stories. They were also running around catching lights and using their imagination to infer what the characters in the book were saying and thinking.

Disco Dance Ball

Space Exploring

Animal hide and Seek

Camping Trip/Star gazing

Medium sized tent in room with glow in the dark stars hanging from the top

Shadow Puppets

Play theatre stage box

Animal Shadow puppets

Animal Shaped Glowsticks

Bottle Lanterns: Water bottle tea light lanterns

Gross Motor/Outdoor Play

The children were interested in moving around and chasing lights using their gross motor skills.

Flashlight Freeze Tag

Flashlight Limbo

Shadow Tag

Drawing shadows with street chalk

Fairy Class Garden: Tea fake Fairy lights to decorate the playground

Glowing Balloon Field: Fill up a small bucket with ballons that have one medium non toxic glow in the dark stick inside of it

Red light, Green light using a large traffic sign

Draw a Giant Rainbow on the Ground

Shadow Story time

Glow in the Dark Bubbles tag

Shadow Drawing: Children will place objects like 3D animal figurines or shapes on blank paper and trace their shadows to colour them, paint them or add to them in different ways

Music and Movement - The children were making beats and using their voices to make different noises and even singing out parts of the book

Sing songs/rhymes together like: Planet song or fireflies - can even do a kid bop song with flashlights as the prop

Boomwhackers - neon colours (some can glow in the dark)

Musical Notes light table sorting activty

Also could be STEM

Light up Piano board

Children demonstrate an understanding of themselves, knwoledge of skills and abilities through art, drama, dance and music (Kindergarten Curriculum Document, Pg. 124)

Children would be able to communicate their findings to their educators and peers and share their ideas. this would engage their vocabulary skills, increase their self confidence and promote their independent abilities (Kindergarten Curriculum Document, pg. 120)

Children would use their environment and the open ended materials provided to them to interact with their activities in a fully engaged way which would further enhance their learning. They would be able to use their natural curiosity to explore new materials and participate in new activites (Kindergarten Curriculum Document, Pg. 141).

Children show their learning by participating actively and regularly in a variety of activities that require the application of movement concepts (Kindergarten Curriculum Document, Pg. 122).