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Concert Laser-Show Simulator

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Teams choreograph a mock laser and light show, using geometry and timing to sync beams with music without ever pointing a real laser at anyone.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • ProtractorsBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • free decibel appBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$55.17 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups). Exceeds $25 per class.

Classroom cardboard or boxes can lower the cost.

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • foilRequired1 x 1 roll / 75 sq ft1 roll / 75 sq ft$5.97Amazon
  • wax paperRequired1 x 1 roll / 75 sq ft1 roll / 75 sq ft$2.79Amazon
  • black paperRequired1 x 50 sheets50 sheets$6.94Amazon
  • shoeboxRequired1 x 6 boxes6 boxes$15.99Amazon
  • foam and cardboard piecesRequired1 x 10 sheets + 1 x 25 sheets10 sheets + 25 sheets$6.99 + $16.49AmazonAmazon

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$55.17 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 30 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 10 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Concert Laser-Show Simulator, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Listen to a music clip and predict where beams of light should hit and when they should change to match the beat.
  2. Set up flashlights, mirrors, and colored filters to create a simulated laser pattern in a darkened space.
  3. Run the show against the music, find the timing drifts out of sync partway through, and adjust the beam angles or cue timing to fix it.
  4. Perform the finished light show for an audience, explaining the geometry behind the beam angles.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Concert Laser-Show Simulator when it can perform the finished light show for an audience, explaining the geometry behind the beam angles and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

flashlights, colored cellophane, mirrors, dark room or box, music playback device, protractor; Protractors; foil; wax paper; black paper; shoebox; foam and cardboard pieces; free decibel app

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Listen to a music clip and predict where beams of light should hit and when they should change to match the beat.
  2. Test materials with a flashlight: mirror, foil, white paper, black paper, wax paper, and colored filters. Record whether each reflects, absorbs or transmits light, and what color comes through each filter.
  3. Test the show's sound, a mechanical wave: play the music clip from a school device inside a shoebox with no lining, then lined with foam, foil and cardboard, and measure loudness 1 m outside with a free decibel app. Record results in a table, draw a wave model showing where the sound is reflected, absorbed or transmitted, and use it to choose a backdrop material that keeps sound in the audience area.
  4. Draw a ray diagram model for your show: arrows for each beam path, labeled where light reflects off mirrors and where filters transmit one color and absorb others.
  5. Set up flashlights, mirrors, colored filters and the chosen sound backdrop to match the models in a darkened space. Measure mirror angles with a protractor and check that each beam goes where the diagram predicts.
  6. Run the show against the music. Fix any beam that misses its target by changing the mirror angle and updating the ray diagram.
  7. Perform the finished show for an audience, using the ray diagram and sound wave model to explain how both the light and the sound were reflected, absorbed or transmitted.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS4-2

    Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.