Everyday light table play

There are so many ways to explore light in the classroom with your students

I have a small light table that is always out and available for play in my classroom.  I use this light table for simple activities and try to keep something out and available for light table play every single day…

One of the drawbacks to having wonderful natural light in my preschool classroom is that the light and colors on the light table aren’t nearly as brilliant during the day as it is when I play at home with the light table at night. But the light is still effective and to keep it interesting, we try using the light table in a variety of ways…

Light Table Inspiration

Many of the photos I am sharing on this post today come from an entire year of preschool light table activities. We are always exploring so many different light table activities, that I haven’t even had time to write about most of them. So I thought I would at least share with you different ways we use the light table in our classroom…

Building Pre-Writing Skills

We use the light table salt box to explore the writing and drawing process….

Number and Letter Recognition

We use the light table to promote number and letter recognition….

We use the water beads on the light table to explore magnification and prism affects on the newspaper letters…

Building Fine Motor Skills

We hunt and pick up small objects through holes on the light table for a little fine motor play…

We extend the books we read like the book “Stars” by Mary Lyn Rae

Art Exploration with Light

We use the light table to explore art and to take a closer look at our artwork once we are finished…

Exploring Science Concepts

We explore colors, color mixing, and science on the light table…

We explored physics and centrifugal force with marbles in a petri dish – this was pretty cool…

We stacked the dishes up in many different ways and made the marbles go round and round by moving the dishes in a circular motion…

It was hard to take a photo of the marbles moving…

Building Literacy

We explore drawing and story telling with these laminated story strips for the light table…

The children lay the laminated strips across the light table to make the story move…

Having Fun with Light!

We play games on the light table…

We explore as many different materials on the light table that we can come up with…

Sensory Exploration

We explore water beads on our DIY light table when we need a large light table surface…

The Possibilities are Endless

And on some days the children come up with their own unique plan for play on the light table…

You can see more ways we explore the light table here on my previous light table post!

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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