Exploring midwinter should definitely be part of the festive season. The winter solstice, usually around 21 December, marks the ‘shortest’ day and ‘longest’ night of the year, and the internet has lots of information on midwinter celebrations and activities.
1. RECORD SHADOWS
Because of the axis of the Earth, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun in summer and away from the sun in winter, meaning cooler temperatures and shorter days.
Choose a fixed object in your outdoor space – such as a piece of play equipment – and record the shadows it casts each day at noon. Take photographs on days when the sun casts shadows and mark a specific point of the object on the ground using chalk or paint. By doing this with the children every day, the changing position of the sun in our sky will soon become apparent to them.
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