Exploring Colors with DIY Light Table and Stencils

Vito is 31 months old.

We’re having simple activities for our Light and Shadow Unit.  Since it’s been raining most of the time, we’re doing much of the activities indoors (much to my dismay).  So probably, creating shadows under the sun has to wait, and shadows using torch will also have to wait since our sunset here is 10PM.  We might redo this activity in September or October, when night time comes early so we can play with our torch and make shadows.


Having a light table has been on my wishlist for years but because we don’t have enough space at home, I just have to cross that out of the list.  So what I did here was reuse our toy under-bed storage box.  It’s so easy to prepare!

Materials needed:

• storage box with clear/transparent lid
• baking/parchment paper
• LED String Lights.  I HIGHLY suggest using LED lights for safety.

To make your light table, cover the lid with baking or parchment paper to diffuse the light.  Without the baking or parchment paper, this is how your light table/box will look like.


With the parchment…. tada!

You can purchase these affordable translucent materials for exploring colors and lights:

• Learning Resources 3D Geometric Solids
• Learning Resources Transparent Chips
• Learning Resources Don’t Bug Me
• Learning Resources Translucent Geometric Shapes

I also made these coloured translucent stencils for experimenting with color mixing! They’re so easy to do!

Materials needed:

• Cello Sheets
• Thermal Laminator
• Laminating pouches

I've cut out pieces of our unused cello sheets and laminated them. They didn’t melt at all. So instead of purchasing pricey projector inkjet sheets, you can just laminate your cello sheets and play around with color mixing in your DIY light table.  Cello sheets can be purchased here.


The boys played and explored the table and our materials for hours.  They love the effects of light in our cello sheets and the color changes when you combine  two or three sheets.  Vito loves lining up the chips as well, forming shapes, and letters!

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