Summer Solstice: A Show of Sun Power

Our family really does love the sunshine.  When I announced to the girls this morning that it is Summer Solstice, meaning that the sun is up longer than on any other day, my girls cheered.

We did an extremely easy but fun and interesting experiment, using the sun's power: sun prints.  

For our sun prints we used the following:

• colored construction paper (the darker colors work best)
• various small toys or other objects (the flatter the item, the more clear the resulting print will be)

Yep, two things.  It was fun to see what the girls chose for their papers.  

Yellow's

Pink's

Purple's

Blue's, made by Mom

We spread our papers in an area of our driveway where they wouldn't be disturbed.  And we recited "Don't touch!" several times.  

I was worried whether Blue or Purple would leave our sun print items in place.  I think the papers and objects were in such a spot that those two girls didn't think about them again. I was concerned when an hour later, Pink asked to go check on them.  I explained that we needed to give it more time (3-4 hours is what is recommended), and that we would wait until the end of playtime to see the results.  No problem.

So reveal time.  

The girls were thrilled with the shadows on their paper.

Pink asked several times if she could do this again tomorrow, so I think that means it was a hit.  As we looked at the faded background and more vibrant shadows on the paper, I did take the opportunity to explain how sunscreen acts like the objects on the paper, shielding our skin from the sun.  It was a good visual.

And easy.  And fun!

Happy Summer Solstice!

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