Light Table Activities
Light tables are all the rage now when it comes to sensory activities, but a light table usually costs a whole lot of money and sometimes you don't know if it is worth the investment. If you have the DIY bug like me, you could try your hand at making your own! After making one, I have found it SO useful as it opens up a whole other range of 5 minute, quick to set up activities that are fun and engaging for the kids!
Here, I share some of the absolute hits of light table activities we have tried.
So, water beads to kids is already ultra fun. But water beads on a light table is ULTRA ULTRA fun. The colours are so pretty and mesmerising!
Materials:
- Water beads
- Scoops
- Containers
How to:
- Soak water beads overnight in some water and let them grow to size
- Place them in a clear container
- Let kids scoop and mix and pour to their hearts content!
Pro tips:
- Water beads are super mess free but if you are like me and beads bouncing around can cause an anxiety attack, get a huge container and put the container of water beads INTO that container so all the misses when the kids pour and scoop will fall into the huge container and not all over the floor.
- To make things more interesting, have water AND waterbeads. BOOM!
Materials:
- Water
- Food colouring
- Oil
- A stick to stir
How to:
- Fill a tub with water
- Drop about a tablespoon of oil into the water and stir
- Drop food colouring into different corners of the water
- Let child stir!
Pro tips:
- The oil just slows down the speed in which all the colours mix together.
- Give the kids a chopstick or a fork. Don't give spoons or scoops unless you want oil and water and food colouring all over your floor!
Materials:
- Pom poms
- Containers
- Scoops
How to:
- Pour pompoms into a clear container
- Provide containers and scoops
- Let them go wild!
Pro tips:
- For a more structured activity, Stick coloured paper on empty water bottles and get the kids to sort the colours.
- This is basically a cleaner, easier version of waterbeads on the light table... but not as pretty!
Materials:
- Pony Beads
- Containers
- Scoops
- Old shoelaces
How to:
- Pour pony beads into a clear container
- Provide containers, scoops and shoelaces
- Let them go wild!
Pro tips:
- For a more structured activity, create a few colour cards where the kids have to thread the beads according to the colour.
That's all for now!
I have done a couple of others where we take anything semi translucent and just play on the light table, but these are the few where they have been able to be kept occupied for at least 20 minutes! You can even do simple tracing and colouring on it. Something about the light just makes it more endearing to kids.
Here, I share some of the absolute hits of light table activities we have tried.
1. Water Beads
Materials:
- Water beads
- Scoops
- Containers
How to:
- Soak water beads overnight in some water and let them grow to size
- Place them in a clear container
- Let kids scoop and mix and pour to their hearts content!
Pro tips:
- Water beads are super mess free but if you are like me and beads bouncing around can cause an anxiety attack, get a huge container and put the container of water beads INTO that container so all the misses when the kids pour and scoop will fall into the huge container and not all over the floor.
- To make things more interesting, have water AND waterbeads. BOOM!
2. Water Colour Mix
Materials:
- Water
- Food colouring
- Oil
- A stick to stir
How to:
- Fill a tub with water
- Drop about a tablespoon of oil into the water and stir
- Drop food colouring into different corners of the water
- Let child stir!
Pro tips:
- The oil just slows down the speed in which all the colours mix together.
- Give the kids a chopstick or a fork. Don't give spoons or scoops unless you want oil and water and food colouring all over your floor!
3. Pom Poms
- Pom poms
- Containers
- Scoops
How to:
- Pour pompoms into a clear container
- Provide containers and scoops
- Let them go wild!
Pro tips:
- For a more structured activity, Stick coloured paper on empty water bottles and get the kids to sort the colours.
- This is basically a cleaner, easier version of waterbeads on the light table... but not as pretty!
4. Pony Beads
- Pony Beads
- Containers
- Scoops
- Old shoelaces
How to:
- Pour pony beads into a clear container
- Provide containers, scoops and shoelaces
- Let them go wild!
Pro tips:
- For a more structured activity, create a few colour cards where the kids have to thread the beads according to the colour.
I have done a couple of others where we take anything semi translucent and just play on the light table, but these are the few where they have been able to be kept occupied for at least 20 minutes! You can even do simple tracing and colouring on it. Something about the light just makes it more endearing to kids.
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