How do mirrors work? What is light, and how does it travel? Explore light and reflection with your preschooler with these simple hands-on experiments. Kids are often fascinated by mirrors and flashlights, and this is the perfect opportunity to dig a little deeper to find out more about how light behaves. Not only will your child learn about light, she'll also practice observing and drawing conclusions about what she sees.
What You Need:
- Plexiglas mirror (Plexiglas mirrors are relatively expensive but as a unique and durable material, they are worth the expense)
- Bright flashlight
- Sheet of black paper
What You Do:
What's in a Mirror?
- Have your child look into the mirror.
- Talk about what she sees. You can say, for example: "I see...me! Do you see me?"
- Ask her what else she sees in the mirror. Is what she sees in front of her, next to her, or behind her?
Where does Light Travel?
- Shine the flashlight so it “tickles” your child on the hands or knees. Turn off the overhead lights if you can’t see the beam clearly. If you still can't see the beam, shine it against the black paper.
- Ask her to describe what she sees. What does the flashlight's beam look like (straight, curved, zigzag, etc.)?
- Now point the flashlight down at a table. Which way is the flashlight pointing? Where will the light beam shine? Ask her to make a prediction before you turn the flashlight on.
- Turn it on and see where the beam goes. Was her prediction correct?
- Turn off the flashlight and point at the ceiling. Ask her to make another prediction: where will the light beam shine this time?
- Turn on the flashlight and observe. Was she correct?
This simple experiment lets her see that light travels in a straight line, and challenges her to use that discovery to make predictions about how light from a flashlight will shine.
By Peggy Ashbrook
Adapted with permission from "Science is Simple: Over 250 Activities for Preschoolers." Copyright 2003 by Peggy Ashbrook. Used by Permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
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