At the end of my post yesterday about the heart suncatchers, I promised to share what else we’ve done so far with the light table.
Thank you first though for your ideas for light table play, both in the blog comments and on facebook! I can’t wait to give those a try with my kids!
As I mentioned yesterday, our light table is a super easy DIY version (a clear plastic storage box with white Christmas lights!), and we’ve only had it for about a month.
That said, here’s what we’ve tried so far:
Note: When I finally decided to make the light table, I placed an order with Discount School Supply for some things I thought would be fun to try on the light table, so these items are all from there, although some you might be able to find elsewhere.
Light Table Toys and Tools
Letter Jewels :: Good for letter recognition, writing names, and little notes. I liked these more than my kids did.
Building Brilliance Magnetic Shapes :: We love, love, LOVE these! I have about 10 blog posts-worth to share with you about the fun ways my kids have found to use them on and off the light table. I’ll try to condense it down to just a couple, for your sake. 🙂 While I purchased the rest of the items on this list, Discount School Supply sent me these for free to try out and review (at my request).
Animal X-Rays
 :: Cool to look at once or twice, but I probably wouldn’t spend the money on them unless I were a teacher. Maia’s into this sort of thing and enjoyed studying the X-rays, but said that they were easier to see on a plain surface than on the light table.
I think a library book with animal X-rays would be plenty for our family and am going to see if our library has Amazing X-Rays: Wild Animals by Jacqueline A. Ball.
I’ll probably offer this x-ray set I bought to one of my daughters’ teachers…
Mag Chips
 and a Mag-Wand
 :: These are great for magnetic play on or off the light table. My kids and their friends had fun playing with them (seeing who could get the most mag chips, seeing if their wand could “steal” mag chips from another person’s, etc). The mag chips seem fairly one-dimensional in terms of what you can do with them, but they are inexpensive and, I think, worth trying. The magnetic wands are definitely worth having! We’ve had one for a few years and it’s gotten used on and off for all sorts of things.
Prism Bricks
 (translucent legos) :: I was so excited about these and thought Maia and Daphne would love them. The girls go through lego-building phases off and on and I figured these might be a good addition to the set that was handed down to us from friends a few years ago.
However, while these translucent legos look great, my kids got frustrated with them quickly, saying they didn’t stick together well the way their other legos did.
Oh well.
Plus the Translucent Mosaic Tiles
, of course :: We love these tiles! They are great for making designs with on the light table and also, as I posted about yesterday, for making suncatchers.
Any light table toys or tools you would add to this list? Either products or ideas to try out on the table? Or those you’ve tried but would recommend others take a pass on?
