DIY Light Table

I am a huge fan of the  Play At Home Home Mom blog. They are a huge inspiration to me and I especially like all the activities that they do on the light table.

I decided that I wanted to get one for here, but after searching around, realized that I couldn't afford to buy one. So I decided to try and make one.

I did some searching and found these ideas and went from there

It's TEEA Time has instructions to make one

Play At Home Mom has instructions on converting a train table to a light table. They also have lots of pictures of DIY light boxes on their Facebook Page

I bought a fairly large, shallow tote (I think it's a Sterilite brand). You want to try and find a tote with a reasonably flat lid.

I started by spray painting the bottom of it black. Once it was dry, I cut a small hole on the side near the bottom.

I bought some outdoor rope lights. You don't want lights that will get very hot. At first, I only used one set, but it wasn't very bright, so I put in a second set.

When I tried it out, I found that the lights didn't come through the lid very well. I then lined the tote with tin foil, to make it more reflective, and sending more light through the lid.

This is how it looked so far. :)

With the lights on

At first, the lights were too glaring and it just looked like a tote with lights in it. I cover the inside of the tote lid with a piece of parchment paper to diffuse the light.

It worked great :)

With the original tote lid

We have used it for lots of play so far :) Every time I'm out, I look for anything transparent or clear to use on it.

Here are some of the ways we've used it so far.

Sticking tissue paper to contact paper

Glass gems that Sammie likes to sort

Plastic diamonds

Glass mosaic tiles. Sammie likes to build and stack these.

After using it a bit, I decided that I didn't like the lid on it. It was not smooth or flat. So I got a piece of clear acrylic and cut it to fit the tote. I made it short enough that the handles of the tote will still come up over and hold it in place.

Once I got the acrylic cut to the right size, I taped some parchment paper to one side of it. I put some duct tape around the edges, as I'm not the best at cutting acrylic and there were some rough spots. I didn't want anyone to be scratched or cut on it.

Now it works really great :) The surface is smooth with no ridges or bumps, making it perfect for writing on or playing on.

What it looks like now, with the acrylic instead of the lid

Here are some more ways that we've used the light box

Stringing beads to make a necklace

Random items that Sammie was exploring the light with  :)

Large buttons

Small shape beads

Train, tracks, and house that Maddie built out of the glass mosaic tiles :)

Sorting large buttons by shape

Even Austin likes our light table :)

This light box has been a great addition to our play :) Maddie has even used it for her homework a few times, for tracing

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