A Shadow as a Plaything

We've just gotten through reading, listening to and watching several versions of Peter Pan stories (my kids haven't watched too many musicals, but REALLY enjoyed the musical version). The whole bit about Peter's shadow getting away from him is very imaginative and David Barry has an interesting shadow villain who shows up in the second of his Peter trilogy called, "Peter and the Shadow Thieves." So, it really caught my attention when Brigham began to recognize and play with his shadow. I don't remember the other kids doing this and it has been fun to watch.

The first time I saw him experimenting was a few weeks ago at a lake near our home. He was squatting down and picking his hand up and setting it down over and over. Then he got up and started running, looking over his shoulder to watch the shadow following him. Finally, he stood with his arms out and then put them down again and over his head (pictures below):




We can't get enough of the Children's Garden at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. Brigham in particular likes to go to the area that is a replica of the Great Lakes (water included) to play with the toy boats.


Near this outdoor exhibit, there are four sculptures/musical instruments. They each have two cups attached with a rod in between. As the wind blows, these rods go round and round. Each also has a mallet and a metal bar attached in such a way that as the rods go around the mallet can hit the bar and they each play a different note. First, Brigham noticed the music.


After a while I saw him standing quite still and realized he was contemplating the shadows that the cups and rods made while rotating around. After a bit, he and Nathan created a game where they chased the shadows round and round.