THE ART OF MAKING SHADOWS: Create 100 Creatures

Made using only your hands and a torch or lamp, shadow animals have a charm that has lasted through the ages. You might have tried creating them as a child, even if your repertoire was limited to a rather shaky wolf (one of the first shadow animals that anyone learns!. But in your great-grandmother's day, shadow-casting was considerably more sophisticated. Any parlour entertainer worth his or her salt could effortlessly bring dozens of animals to life. So, if modern party games seem soulless, step out of the shadows with Shadow Ark . Just an hour's practice will have you demonstrating the roar of a lion and the snap of a crocodile; and soon you'll be putting on an entire show. Friends will be getting competitive over the realism of their shadow creations and children will be queuing two by two to learn to make their favourites. Before you know it, you'll be an aficionado of a parlour game that even your grandma would consider sweetly old- fashioned. In keeping with this, we've suggested a traditional, biblical story line, but don't limit yourself. Once you have the characters at your fingertips, you'll be able to enact anything from Red Riding Hood to lassie Come Home.