Oakley's Shadow Choice Garden

A playful garden of shadows, light, stories, and surprising discoveries.

Practice level | Level 1 · First Shadows · Ages 4–5 Make simple shadows and explore familiar shapes.

A child shines a flashlight to make a rabbit, house and flowerpot shadows while a parent and dog watch.

Choose something to explore

Rock Paper Scissors

See the choices and rules before you play.

How to play

Choose a hand, reveal it, then use the three rules.

Three hand signs: a fist for Rock, an open hand for Paper, and two fingers for Scissors.
Three choices: Rock, Paper, Scissors.
A child chooses one of the Rock, Paper, or Scissors hand signs.
Choose one hand.
A child and grown-up get ready to reveal their choices.
Ready, then reveal.
An open Paper hand beats a Rock fist, illustrated by paper covering a stone.
Paper covers Rock.
A Scissors hand beats Paper, illustrated by scissors cutting a sheet of paper.
Scissors cut Paper.
A Rock fist beats a Scissors hand, illustrated by a stone resting on scissors.
Rock beats Scissors.
✊
Rock
→ beats →
✌️
Scissors
Rock beats Scissors!
✊ Rock → beats → ✌️ Scissors
✌️ Scissors → cut → ✋ Paper
✋ Paper → covers → ✊ Rock
Songs for the game

Optional. Play either song while you practice.

Music is off.

Shadow Choice Game

Choose Rock, Paper, or Scissors and follow the rule.

How to play
Three hand signs: a fist for Rock, an open hand for Paper, and two fingers for Scissors.
Three choices: Rock, Paper, Scissors.
A child chooses one of the Rock, Paper, or Scissors hand signs.
Choose one hand.
A child and grown-up get ready to reveal their choices.
Ready, then reveal.
An open Paper hand beats a Rock fist, illustrated by paper covering a stone.
Paper covers Rock.
A Scissors hand beats Paper, illustrated by scissors cutting a sheet of paper.
Scissors cut Paper.
A Rock fist beats a Scissors hand, illustrated by a stone resting on scissors.
Rock beats Scissors.
Songs for the game

Optional. Play either song while you practice.

Music is off.
You
0
Oakley
0
Ties
0
🧠 Rock beats Scissors · Scissors beat Paper · Paper covers Rock

Choose your shadow!

Make Shadow Animals

Make animal shadows with your hands, a light, and a blank wall.

BEFORE YOU BEGINUse a safe light and a clear wall
Light · flashlight or desk lamp Wall · blank wall for clear shadows Room · a darker space so shapes show well Support · a grown-up nearby
Light safety
  • No candles: use a flashlight or lamp only.
  • Eye safety: do not shine light into anyone's eyes.
  • Cord safety: keep cords out of walking paths.

Start with easy animals

Dog

Hold one hand sideways. Point four fingers forward. Lift your thumb for an ear. Move your little finger to make the dog bark.

Bird

Cross your wrists. Link your thumbs. Flutter your fingers like wings.

Butterfly

Cross your hands at the wrists. Cross your thumbs. Move your fingers slowly like wings.

Snail

Make one hand into a fist for the shell. Use two fingers on the other hand for the snail's head and feelers.

Rabbit

Use two fingers for long ears. Curve your other hand to make the face.

Crab

Hold up two fingers like claws. Open and close them slowly.

Poster Guides

Choose a poster when you want more animal ideas.

Tiny history note
  • Shadow play: hands, light, and a wall can become tiny theatre.
  • Animal shapes: simple hand shapes can become animals and characters.
  • Story starter: children can guess the shadow and invent a tiny story.

Shadow Games

Move, freeze, trace, match, and play with the shapes shadows make.

Active Shadow Play

Shadow Tag

Move and tag by stepping on someone’s shadow.

Shadow Simon Says

Stretch tall, shrink tiny, balance on one foot, or make a funny shape.

Shadow Dance Freeze

Move near the light. When the music stops, freeze and look at your shadow.

A kitten and owl play, dance, freeze, and compare their shadows in a warm lamp beam.
Music for Shadow Dance Freeze

Play a song, move near the light, then press Pause and freeze.

Song 1
Song 2
Song 3
Song 4
Song 5
Music is paused.

Creative Shadow Play

Hand Puppets

Shape your fingers to make animal silhouettes on a blank wall.

Shadow Tracing

Place toys on paper under a lamp and trace their shadow shapes.

Shadow Matching

Match each object to its shadow outline and see which shape fits.

DISCOVER

Shadow Science

Light, distance, and silhouettes

Try one discovery first, then open another experiment when you want to explore.

BEFORE YOU BEGINUse a safe light and a clear wall
Light · flashlight or desk lamp Wall · blank wall for clear shadows Room · a darker space so shapes show well Support · a grown-up nearby
Light safety
  • No candles: use a flashlight or lamp only.
  • Eye safety: do not shine light into anyone's eyes.
  • Cord safety: keep cords out of walking paths.
A child points a flashlight toward a wall, revealing silhouettes of a rabbit, a small house, and a plant, with a grown-up nearby.

START HERE · LIGHT DISCOVERY

Make the Sun Grow

Move one flashlight. Watch its bright circle change.

Hand Shadow Theatre

Use the shadows you made in guessing games and tiny stories.

A child and grown-up use their hands to make animal shadows on an illuminated cloth.

Shadow game ideas

Guess the Animal

One player makes a shadow. Everyone else guesses.

Speed Round

Give players 5 seconds to guess the animal.

Story Trio

Make three animal shadows and tell a tiny story using all three.

Take it offline

Print tiny tickets for flashlight shadow play away from the screen.

Rock, Paper & Scissors Math

Can your hand shadows become numbers?

A child and grown-up compare dot cards and pebbles together at a garden table.

🌱 Learn the Values

Choose two hand signs and add their numbers. Example: ✋ + ✌️ = 7.

💡 Discover & Think

Make the hand signs, solve one picture question aloud, or take turns asking a partner.

🧠 Brain Builder Challenge

Oakley says: Can you remember what each hand means?

🌼 Explore & Add

Math Drill: How to Play

Use the same three hand signs as a short, repeatable addition drill.

Rock0
Scissors2
Paper5
  1. 1Choose two hands. Pick any Rock, Scissors, or Paper combination.
  2. 2Recall the values. Turn each hand sign into its number.
  3. 3Add before checking. Work out the total in your head or aloud.
  4. 4Say the number sentence. For example, “Scissors plus Paper equals seven.”
  5. 5Repeat for five rounds. Change the hands each round and try to answer smoothly.
Example: ✌️ + ✋  →  2 + 5 = 7

Level 4: keep the value poster visible. Level 5: cover it and recall 0, 2, and 5 from memory.

Tiny history note
  • Worldwide game: Rock, Paper, Scissors is played by children and adults in many countries.
  • In China: it is commonly called “Rock, Scissors, Cloth”: 石头、剪刀、布 (Shítou, Jiǎndāo, Bù).
  • Brain drill: familiar hand signs become number symbols for memory, number recognition, and mental addition.

Poster Guides

Choose a shadow poster. Each poster opens as a simple visual guide with more hand-shadow animal ideas.

    Poster 1 of 10

    Hand Shadow Animals

    🌿
    Game Over!

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    Oakley
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    Fables Library · Slow cinema for growing minds