Bright Lights, Big City: Jello Light Table Sculpture

It had been a while since we'd broken out our light boxes and we've been on the search (like everyone else out here) for activities to keep nice and cool.  So we decided to whip up some Jello and see what would happen!  Mom used one of the leftover pieces of acrylic sheeting from our easels and put it on top of our two light boxes to make a nice big surface for play.  Cam had helped mom make several Jello flavors earlier in the day and mom cut them up using different cookie cutter shapes.  And she gave us some toothpicks and wooden skewers to use, which turned out to be too skinny to give much anchoring to our sculptures.  And that turned out to be OK because we mostly wanted to eat it.  Well, I mostly wanted to eat it.  Cam actually did stack some of the Jello blocks together and made different shapes.  Either way - we stayed cool!

Baubles, Bangles and Beads: Light Table Beading

Mom randomly found some plastic, large-eyed needles in our junk drawer and we decided they'd be good to use for some beading.  And because we look for any excuse to use our light boxes, we pulled out the beads that came with our light table kit and used those.  I could do it as long as mommy held on to the needle and thread -- I slid the beads over the top of the needle.  Kane wanted to do it all himself, which he did a few times.  He also set the beads down and then put the needle through, which worked better for him.  But he refused to let mommy tie a knot in the bottom of the thread, so that kind of put an end to that.  Then he just wanted to throw the beads around.  But I've done this a few times with mommy by myself and I really like it -- it's a good way to spend a little quiet time working on fine motor skills.

Blinded by the Light: Lightbox Water Beads

We recently combined two of our favorite things -- our lightboxes and water beads -- for a fun activity that occupied almost a whole afternoon.  Mom found some better water beads that didn't squish quite as easily as our last batch (we liked these better than these) and we used cooking utensils and silicone baking molds to scoop, pour, and sort water beads for a while.  Nothing too complicated here, just some sensory fun.

This made a bit of a mess, so mom found some small, shallow storage boxes at Target that fit nicely on the top of our lightboxes.  Since then, we've done lots more water bead play on our lightboxes -- it somewhat helps us keep the beads from squishing all over the floor.  Although it is such fun to send them bouncing in every direction -- mom loves it.

Glitter Shines Forever: Lightbox Glitter Painting

Mom has been happily surprised that one of the activities we request most is to play with our lightboxes (good thing -- they weren't that difficult to make, but they did take a bit of time).  A few weeks ago mom (nervously) let us do some ziploc bag painting on our lightbox -- we've been doing a lot of the lightbox activities in Cami's room because it's the darkest, but it is carpeted.  Mom made up two bags: one with red and yellow paint and one with yellow and green paint.  And of course we insisted on adding glitter.  We did a little color mixing and painted for some time.  I discovered I could make a "negative" handprint by pressing down on the paint.  And I liked using Cami's babydoll bottle to trace shapes (although that started to threaten the ziploc's integrity, and mom put that idea to bed.  we've seen other people use a Q-tip, which is probably a better idea).

Shells of Silver: Shell X-Ray Light Play

Mom thought it would be a fun follow-up to our recent aquarium visit to take a look at some shell x-rays she bought for our light tables.  The set we have contains both pictures of the shells and x-rays of what is inside.  We played a matching game and tried to find the x-ray that would fit with a particular shell.  Well, that's what I did.  Cami just tried to throw the x-rays all over her room and run away with them.  Oh well, one out of two isn't bad.

Last of the Unplucked Gems: GelGems Light Play

We were not happy when mommy started taking down all of the holiday decorations, including our GelGems, and we started to feel a little better when we got to play with them a bit longer.  And we really started to feel better when we got out our new lightboxes to use with the GelGems.  We started out by rolling them on top of the table, then stretching them, and then tearing them into little pieces and making sculptures.  Super fun and a great way to stretch out those holiday decorations!

p.s. if you don't tear them to tiny bits like we did, you can store the GelGems for reuse between two sheets of wax paper.

Blinded by the Light: DIY Lightbox

As one of our Christmas presents, mom made each of us a lightbox.  These are all over kiddo blogs, but mom used this one as her starting point and changed it up a bit.  Here's what you'll need to make ours:

- 1 frosted storage container with lid (mom used these from IKEA -- inexpensive and the frosted plastic really helps diffuse the light evenly)

- a light source (mom used these from IKEA -- not inexpensive, but they are customizable and give off some nice light.  and they are on SALE right now.  plus the cord is flexible enough that you can shut the lid over it and avoid having to drill a hole for it into the storage container)

- 1 can white primer spray (like this Kilz)

- 1 can silver spray paint (like this Krylon, which is what mom used)

It's a pretty simple construction project:

(1) spray the inside of the bottom container with the white primer and let dry;
(2) spray the inside of the bottom container with the silver spray paint with SEVERAL coats (mom used a whole can on the two of ours, but that is likely because she FORGOT to do step (1));
(3) assemble lights and place in bottom once container is dry (mom found it helpful to coil the cord on the bottom and place the lights on top - so they are closer to the lid);
(4) close the lid, plug in and play!

These are pretty compact, but so far have been sufficient for some cool activities (even though mom forgot to prime them!).  Of course we'd love a really fancy light box or table, but chances are we'd break that.  Mom did spring for a nice light table discovery kit, though, which has been worth it so far.  We spent our first time with the light boxes doing some color work, sorting beads, and checking out some agate light table slices.  Word is mom has much up her sleeve for these, but if you can't wait, check out what others have been doing and where we got our inspiration:

Play at Home Mom

Child Central Station

Teach Preschool

The Mommies Made Me Do It

TinkerLab