just a dumb idea

or plays games with

The sun dances with the shadows of the plane trees and marvels at its reflection in the vast lake where migratory birds nest...

Katarina must have put in the phrase while I was gathering examples. In support of her answer, I'm going to post what I found. There are plenty more examples available.

A haunting thriller set in a London at times beautiful and ugly, but always captivating. An edgy psychological drama that plays with the shadows and light of an underworld occupied by the fascinating and terrible.
http://www.mr-in-between.com/cast.html

[caption for photograph]
The sun plays with the shadows in the afternoon at Dunc Gray Velodrome, Sydney.
http://www.pbase.com/gunterphotograph/image/37252760

The painting Port of Ostia During a Tempest was made through the technique of oil on canvas. It describes a storm from a port. It is a colorful painting, but at the same time, it plays with the contrast of light and dark. In most parts of the painting, the colors go to a darker tone; however, there is a light streaming from the left side of the painting that illuminates part of it. It **plays with the shadows** in the opposite way.
http://www.as.miami.edu/english/wiki/index.php?title=Shely_B...

[caption for photograph]
The game [that] the light plays with the shadows.
Continuously. Forever. Until it’s done.
My shadow is behind me now. I think it wants to move.
Where’s your shadow?
http://www.inspirelight.net/?p=981


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Note added at 1 hr (2007-09-25 14:42:42 GMT)
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I meant to post "plays with the shadows" in the answer box.

Below are the exactly two references that I found on Internet for "plays hide and seek with the shadows." Yahoo! has 84 hits for "plays with the shadows." Before anyone complains about my using numbers to determine an aesthetique, let me state that I'm not. My concern is about inserting something into the translation that isn't in the original. The original did not specify a game so, IMO, the translation should not specify a game. I'm using the numbers to support my personal preference. The numbers for the phrase "plays with the shadows" show that is more commonly used than "plays hide and side with the shadows." In addition, it does not appear to be overused to the point of triteness.

extract from 'Morning Duties' by D Harrison
Tickles river's ambling currents,
blinks at its own reflection,
plays hide and seek with the shadows.
http://www.naturewriting.com/poemsbyd.htm

Sabbat – History of time to come
Lyrics for ‘Harned Is the Hunter’
Both wicked and lustful
This god's horny might,
He plays hide and seek
With the shadows of the night,
http://www.speed-n-power.com/disk.php?did=7699


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Note added at 1 hr (2007-09-25 14:46:13 GMT)
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Lyrics for 'Harmed is the Hunter'

sunlight frolics with the plantain trees' shades and comes to watch itself in the mirror of the vast lake... and so on.

If you don't like frolic, you may say dance.

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Note added at 15 mins (2007-09-25 13:47:30 GMT)
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...ON the vast lake, taming with migratory birds.

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-09-25 15:11:19 GMT)
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Forget the plantains, but I still like the frolics.

The mad wind frolics with the billows,
Now smooths them low, now lashes high...
[The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Vol.II, Jewish Poems]

When all else is quiet, the ocean is alive. It tumbles through the stillness of the air and frolics with the minnows, dancing atop its endless waves... [-- Maria Blesie, 10
New York]

When the foliage frolics with waves of love
the trees whisper tales of destiny...
[A Poem Dedicated to Hawaii -- author unknown (to me)]