The light table (o light box) is a teaching resource based on the pedagogy of Reggio Emilia. It is a surface with an illuminated base that allows children experiment, play and learn while having fun and developing their creativity.

With the light table we can propose different learning situations, allowing the child try with the colors, shapes, opacity and transparency of different materials.

Features:

• It can be used both in directed activities as in activities free play
• Promotes and enhances experimentation, the attention, the concentration and the observation

It is currently used in many nursery schools and also in homes with children. There are specialized stores that sell them already assembled, they usually cost around €90. The light box that I propose will cost you less than €30.

We can use a wide range of materials for the light table. We will opt for one or the other depending on the activity we want to do, the age of the child and what we intend to work on. Below I leave you some activity ideas and materials for the light table:

• Classify objects according to their shapes or colors
• Transfer materials, for example chickpeas, lentils…
• Create drawings with felt shapes
• Trace Illustrations
• Create figures with colored rice
• Play with transparent colored papers and overlap them to observe the new colors that are formed
• Draw with special glass markers
• Experiment with ice cubes of different colors
• Classify different types of leaves or flowers
• Fill the surface with sand or breadcrumbs so that the child can trace letters with their fingers
• Look at x-rays or photo negatives
• Work on feelings by asking the child to identify or recreate different facial expressions with EVA shapes.