Water Beads in the Dark

Exploring the light table in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed.

I have several different light tables that I used in my classroom. One is a small one I bought from a school supply store and the others are light tables that I have made using this idea (only I am always changing out the lights and my approach to frosting the top to try and make  it better).  It doesn’t matter which light table I share with the kids, they seem to like it all the same…

The light table is a wonderful way to explore not only light but also colors and shapes and other concepts.  Since we have been having fun with turkeys, I added this colorful turkey game. To make the turkey feathers, I cut up colorful plastic from binder inserts…

Here are some other ideas we have recently used on our light table…

Geometric shapes on the light table

Wooden window blocks on the light table

Water beads on the (homemade) light table

My homemade light table is much larger.  The light isn’t quite the same as the store bought light but it still creates an interesting experience that the children like and I don’t worry about it getting a little water or paint on it…

This is the gel beads in cups of water before they expand – they create a pretty cool experience this way too.

And here they are again about 24 hours later – after sitting all night in the water…

This homemade light table is a large plastic tub with a clear lid. I covered the inside of the lid with frosted contact paper and added two florescent lights.  The inside of the tub is painted with a metallic paint to help reflect the light a little better.  I like it because it gives us a much larger working space…

These are just some of the ways we use our light table. Hop on over to Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds and see how she is Exploring light with 2 year-olds!  And view more play with water beads from Pre0school Play!