To make the light table deeper, we simply added another clear tupperware container on the top. We also have cards (also from Learning Resources) that work well with the shapes to bring in more structured play, or to use the materials for more deliberate learning
#LIGHTTABLE TUTORIAL FREE#
The boys loved free play just exploring the light, the colours and the shapes, and enjoying this new play opportunity. With the shapes and flat light table there are plenty of ways to play. This would also work for materials like salt or glitter that need to be contained. On the light table we placed transulcent coloured shapes (these are from Learning Resources) which work well on the flat top of the light table and also tried adding a deeper tray to contain water beads on the light table. This is something I’m sure we’ll try soon! We used white lights but you could also experiment with colour changing lights, especially if you have lights that rotate through colour sequences.
We worked with the steady light but I kept the switch accessible for the children to experiment with making patterns with the lights.
Our lights have different settings – flashing fast, slow, or remaining on as a steady light. You can use tracing paper, tissue paper or in fact we just used a thin piece of A4 paper and it worked fine maybe because our lights were all condensed into a small space, the amount of light coming through to the top was still pretty strong. I feel like this may be a safer option, they don’t get hot at all) String of Christmas lights (we used these LED lights that we had used to make our sensory light den.
So if you have different materials available and your light table comes out slightly different – then that’s fine! One of the messages I took from the fantastic Tinkerlab book is to use what you have available, adapt, and get creative with your resources. If you follow the tutorial in the Tinkerlab book, you will be able to make a larger DIY light table but for our first try we used what we had to hand and made the mini table which is big enough for one child to use at a time to explore shapes and colours. This took under 5 minutes to make – it’s seriously quick and easy! And so the diy mini light table was born.
#LIGHTTABLE TUTORIAL FULL#
To buy a full sized light table can be quite expensive, and also take up a lot of space in the home, so inspired by Tinkerlab I decided that rather than just looking longingly at all the cool light table activities on Pinterest we could just make our own. I’ve loved the look of light tables for a while now, they seem so inviting and offer so many possibilities for sensory play.
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