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Shadow theme for 3 and 4 year olds: a week of activities

A shadow theme lesson plan for 3 and 4 year olds: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (ten to fifteen minutes, with a child holding the book), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for 3 and 4 year oldsThe whole shadow week

A day of the shadow theme with 3 and 4 year olds

  1. Arrival, sign-in, and a job from the helper chart.
  2. Circle (ten to fifteen minutes): calendar, “Where does your shadow go when the sun goes in?”, sing “hey diddle diddle”, then I See a Boy.
  3. Centers, with the craft at one table: shadow puppets.
  4. Letter L: trace it once, then hunt for L around the room.
  5. Snack: Frozen Banana Pops, with children pouring and counting.
  6. Outside: shadow tag.
  7. Rest, then a longer read-aloud: The Little Lantern.

Shadow circle time

  1. Good morning song, then say each name together.
  2. Calendar: the day, the date and the weather.
  3. Ask: “Where does your shadow go when the sun goes in?”
  4. Sing: Hey Diddle Diddle.
  5. Read: I See a Boy (level 3).

Threes and fours: ten to fifteen minutes; let a child hold the book.

Shadow theme books

  • I See a Boy (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Seeing things: what we need light for.
  • Where Is the Cat? (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Hide and seek: where is it hiding?
  • The Little Lantern (read aloud, level 6): A read-aloud: a small light at night.
  • The Sun Is a Star (read aloud, level 5): A read-aloud: our biggest light.

Shadow craft: Shadow puppets

You need (4): dark card animal shapes (grown-up cuts), craft sticks, tape, a flashlight.

  1. Tape each shape to a stick.
  2. A grown-up shines the flashlight on a wall.
  3. Make the animal's shadow move and talk.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Shadow song: Hey Diddle Diddle

The words

Hey, diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Shadow snack

Frozen Banana Pops from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Swap: Yogurt → oat yogurt.

Letter L activities

LlL is for light. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Threes and fours: trace L and l once, then find L in the room and in the book.

Outside activity: Shadow tag

On a sunny day: try to step on a friend's shadow. Where does your shadow go in the shade?

Shadow theme for toddlersShadow theme for 2 year oldsShadow theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30