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JDaniel4s Mom

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LEGO Groundhog Shadow Experiment

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This STEAM experiment invites kids to build a LEGO groundhog and explore various ways to make a groundhog shadow.

We look forward to viewing a groundhog shadow on February 2nd. Some of us hope that he will see his shadow. While others hope there will not be a ground hog shadow observed. Why not try to create your own  LEGO groundhog and explore the various ways to create a groundhog shadow. This would be a a wonderful STEAM experiment!

Making a LEGO Groundhog

If you don’t have an actual groundhog, you can make one. We made one with LEGO. There weren’t enough brown bricks in our LEGO collection to make the groundhog all brown. We decided to use some black brick along with the brown ones. I hope the black stripes don’t keep you from seeing that our creation is supposed to be a ground hog.

Here are the bricks we used to create our ground hog:

  • brown 1×2   (6)
  • black 1×2   (7)
  • brown 2×2  (17)
  • black 2×2   (9)
  • brown 4×2    (8)
  • black 3×2  (4)
  • brown 6×2  (3)
  • black 4×2   (5)
  •  black  6×2  (3)
  • brown short  ramp with two bumps  (4)
  • black short ramp with two bumps  (2)
  • black long ramp with two bumps (2)                             
  • brown medium sized ramp with two bumps (2)
  • brown short ramp with bumps on the bottom (2)
  • clear round brick (1)
  • large base plate (1)

Groundhog Shadow Experiments

This STEAM experiment invites kids to build a LEGO groundhog and explore various ways to make a groundhog shadow.

Outdoor Fun

Exploring  Angles

Take your groundhog outside and sit him on a platform. We used a small ladder. Then place a science fair board behind him. Try turning your groundhog so he is looking at the board from various angles. He can be turned forwards, side sideways and other various angles.

Making Your Groundhog Shadow Grow or Shrink

Take your groundhog off the ladder. Try holding him make his shadow get really big and super small.

Place the groundhog on the ladder and try moving to the left and right of the groundhog. Notice what direction the groundhog shadow will move.

This STEAM experiment invites kids to build a LEGO groundhog and explore various ways to make a groundhog shadow.

Indoor Fun

We took the science fair board and the groundhog inside. Rather than using the sun to help create the groundhog shadow.

Moving Right and Left

We found that by moving the flashlight to the right the groundhog shadow moved to the left. The shadow moved to the left when we move the light to the right.

This STEAM experiment invites kids to build a LEGO groundhog and explore various ways to make a groundhog shadow.

Growing and Shrinking Shadow

When the light shone down on the groundhog from above the shadow got smaller. When the light was backed away from the board and the groundhog the shadow got bigger.

It was fun to watch the groundhog’s shadow change!

Recording Your Results

You will want to have your children record the results of each shadow experiment. Young children could record their results with illustrations or pictures. Older children could use words and pictures to share their results.

Here are some other STEM and STEAM experiments we have done:

LEGO Snowflake Patterns
Snowflake Patterns with Blocks
STEM Engineering Bridge Building

This STEAM experiment invites kids to build a LEGO groundhog and explore various ways to make a groundhog shadow.

For more science experiments please visit my Early Learning Science board on Pinterest.

 

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How Do I Make Play Dough- Chocolate Shadow Play Dough

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How Do I Make Play Dough- Chocolate Shadow Play Dough

Groundhog’s  Day is right around the corner and I thought it would be fun to make Chocolate Shadow cookies with JDaniel .  It has always been fun  to do an activity that ties to holiday. Chocolate Shadow cookies tie to the whole groundhog sees his shadow tradition. 
I took out my ancient Pillsbury cookie cookbook and searched for the recipe. I didn’t remember until I started reading over the recipe for them that they contained peanut butter. My son doesn’t like anything with peanut butter in it. Rather then make cookies only my husband and I would eat I thought that maybe we could make chocolate shadow play dough instead. It doesn’t  need peanut butter and it is fun to knead it into dough. Just how do I make play dough?

How do I Make Play Dough for Groundhog’s Day

Well, we start by hunting and gathering around the kitchen. JDaniel loves to help gather together all the ingredients.

 
 
Chocolate Shadow Play Dough
 
 
1 cup of water
3 cups of flour ( We add a little at a time and sometimes don’t need 3 cups.)
1 1/2 cups of salt
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of cocoa
We mix all of the ingredients except the cocoa together adding the flour a little at a time. We tend to use a big bowl when mixing. It helps to keep the ingredients in a bowl.  We also tend to mix and knead the ingredients together with our hands. It is very relaxing and feels great on our hands.

Once the mixture is the right texture and isn’t sticky, we add the cocoa. I like the marbleized effect that we get by not adding it in with the other ingredients. It looks like the dough has a shadow.
How Do I Make Play Dough- Chocolate Shadow Play Dough

Later in the day we had one of the little boys next door come over to play. I took out our animal cookie cutters. We ended up with all kinds of chocolate shadow creatures. I believe there were even a couple of groundhogs.

Did you already know how to make play dough?

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday.
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