Find a story for tonight · Scared of the dark
A shadow on the wall is light that something is blocking. Let your child move the something.
A shadow is just light blocked by an object, and it changes size as the object moves nearer to or farther from the light. A child who makes a shadow grow and shrink stops seeing a stranger on the wall.
The Little Lights who know this feeling: Fen, Pip.
Try this tonight
- Turn on the lamp or night-light and find the big shadow together.
- Ask, “What’s blocking the light?” and find the object.
- Let your child move it. Does the shadow get bigger or smaller?
- Make shadow animals: two fingers up for a bunny, hooked thumbs for a bird, a flat hand for a puppy.
- Wave goodnight to the shadow friends.
Why it works
“A shadow is light blocked by an object.” “Shadows change size based on how close they are to the light source.”
Cross-referenced with Fen and the Shadow Friends: the big shape on Fen’s wall is the shadow of her own leaf, thrown by her own lantern.
So: At bedtime, find what is blocking the night-light together, then let your child move it and watch the shadow change. Then make a bunny, a bird and a puppy with your hands.
If you skip it: A shadow nobody explains stays a stranger in the room, every night it appears.
What the source doesn’t say
The Smithsonian page says size changes with distance from the light but doesn’t say which way, so let your child find out by moving it. That discovery is the point.
The book and episode
Do-along · 2–5 Fen and the Shadow Friends 
Story book · 4–8 Pip and the Dark 
Do-along · 2–5 Pip Counts the Thunder