If you are looking for how to make a light table, then this article is for you , in this article, we try to make a clear and easy-to-understand method so that you can make your own light table easily.
It had been a while since I saw lighted tables pass on the different Facebook groups but the price has always held us back to buy them. So we decided to create our own and today, we share the stages of this creation with you.
What is a Light Table?
It is a small table on which there are lights. The top is therefore translucent and thus allows the passage of light. The child will therefore be able to play on it with objects that are also translucent.
What is a light table for?
For children, there are several advantages to using a light table:
1 Draw
It is quite possible to put a drawing, then a sheet on top of it, and to be able, by transparency, to redo it identically. It serves as a layer in a way. I know that my eldest daughter often stood in front of a window to do some of her drawings, now she has the light table.
2 Discover geometry, stimulate the senses
Thanks to various objects in relief and of different shapes, the child will be able to work and discover geometry in a sensory way. He will touch each shape, manipulate it, pose it, discover it from different angles.
3 Sort, match, and count
Your child will also be able to sort by size, shape, or even color. But he will also be able to count everything he has placed on his light table. He will associate the objects by shape, size or even color.
4 Discover the colors
The child discovers different colors thanks to the objects that he will place on his table. By transparency he can also learn the mixing of colors. For example by superimposing a yellow object and a blue one, he will see the green appear.
How to make a light table
Material:
- 1 board
- 4 wooden cleats
- 2 LED strips (or 1 depending on your board)
- a plexiglass
- aluminum
- Scotch
Process:
Take a wooden board (in this case, an old shelf board).
Prepare 4 cleats (here, offcuts from our home-made dressing room) to the dimensions of the perimeter of the board.
Apply 2 lengths of aluminum foil to the board, then fix the cleats through the aluminum and the support board.
Glue an LED strip to the thickness of the batten (its vertical drop) then use tacks to be sure of its maintenance, especially at the angles. Cost: 2 X 1 m LED = 2 X 10 euros
Drill the wooden cleat in its thickness to pass the end of the electric wire.
Cut the plexiglass plate (here, a scrap from a homemade canopy) to the size of the board then pre-drill at the 4 angles (the diameter of the hole must be greater than the diameter of the screw thread but less than the diameter of the head of the screw).
Apply tracing paper under the plexiglass plate using tape, then fix the plate on the cleats.
Plugin, turn on, it’s ready!