Rainbows are one of the few fascinations of the natural world that capture our attention and imaginations, no matter what age we are. There is almost an innate instinct to stop and marvel at rainbows whenever they cross our paths. For the children in the Bunny group this has been a daily joy as their exploration of light and shadows has led to their recent discovery of the magical power to manipulate light into their very own rainbows.

Lead teacher of the Bunny group, Naomi, has had the unique role of serving as this group’s lead teacher since they were young infants in the Panda group. Because of this, she has been able to build a distinctive curriculum around light and shadows that has evolved as the children have grown and developed. “It all started with the cardboard ‘prism house’ we constructed in the Panda yard. We would sit inside with the children and gaze at the rainbows of light on the walls,” shared Naomi. “As they got older in the Appie group, they explored the experience of realizing that they each have a shadow that they can move and control. Now that they are Bunnies, we have progressed into some really exciting exploration of light and shadow with shadow dancing and the optical physics of using spray bottles and CDs in the sunlight to create their own rainbows.”

The rainbow play has been a particular favorite of the Bunny children, who have delighted in experimenting with creating and manipulating rainbows on all kinds of surfaces. It didn’t take long before they were making the connection of sunlight as the key ingredient of rainbow making, as they tested the crystals, CDs, and spray bottles to create colorful displays in different parts of the Bunny space.

Shade will move over the prism house depending on the time of day. As children climb inside, they’ll notice that the rainbows have disappeared. The first time this happened, child R exclaimed “I don’t see rainbow! Where did the rainbow go?” The teachers encourage the children to make these connections on their own, so Naomi replied “I wonder why there is not a rainbow? What makes rainbows appear in the house?” R pointed to the prism within the house in response. Continuing the thought process, Naomi asked, “Well, what else do you think we need to make rainbows? Where is the house when we normally see rainbows?” R went deep into thought, pondering the rainbow investigation. “Outside! We need the SUN outside!” she burst out in excitement. Naomi and R moved the structure to the sunny part of the yard to test out the R’s theory, and as they climbed back into the house, their hypothesis proved correct as they observed the rainbows and reflections once again dancing around the walls. These small moments of insight with the children show us both how well they can investigate, hypothesize, and come to conclusions all on their own, and how important a thoughtful teacher is in supporting these inquiries.

Similar stories have been happening each day as the children have been using CDs and spray bottles to interact with the sun and cast rainbows in the air and on themselves. In addition to physics, this curriculum has also led to new vocabulary for the children, with words such as reflected, refracted, and dispersion.

The other evolution of light play that the children have been exploring has been with shadows and light projection.

“’My shadow is following me!’ ‘My shadow is huge!’ ‘My shadow is a baby!’” All can be heard from the Bunny room as the children play and dance with their shadows against the overhead projector screen the teachers have set up in the room. They will stand in front of the screen, waving their arms and doing silly movements to watch all the ways they can manipulate their shadows. Using colorful transparencies and paper cutouts, they have also been playing with different colors, shapes, and fantastical creatures to join them in their play. A paper “monster” provided endless fun as the children took turns placing the monster in different directions and giggling as it moved all kinds of silly ways and danced alongside them. They also experimented with transparent colored film to create beautiful art on the screen, turning the images and shapes in different directions and overlapping colors to create a beautiful display.

We can’t wait to see how their concept of light and shadow continues to grow!