Need some Light table ideas after making your light board? Of course having a light table is super cool, but what do you do with it? What items can you use on a light table? What activities can you do with it? We have a few suggestions that will help keep this activity fresh and fun!

Reusable Ice Cubes
Basically anything that is transparent and colorful can be used on the light table. Some things that my preschoolers have really enjoyed are the plastic reusable ice cubes that come in all shapes and colors. I found some at the dollar store, Walmart and Amazon. I’m sure you can find them almost anywhere. I like these for a few reasons. First, the kids love the vivid colors. Second, the variety available in colors and shapes is great. The kids can make all kinds of neat designs with them and build with the square ones. Third, these are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. Fourth, also easy to clean.

Decorative Glass Beads
I know — glass. But just like any other activity, don’t leave children unsupervised. There are different sizes of glass beads and also different shapes. Look closely — there are some glass beads that aren’t transparent, so make sure you get those that are. I use the glass beads a lot with printables that have neat designs on them.

But truthfully my students like to take these and make all different kinds of beautiful designs and shapes with no guidance. These are also found most places and aren’t too expensive. I found glass beads the same places I found the reusable ice cubes.

Sensory Bottles
I love a good sensory bottle! They’re fun to make and also fun to play with too. Make some sensory bottles that have liquids that are transparent — water, waterbeads, clear glue, baby oil, etc. Part of your activity can actually be making the sensory bottles. Kids LOVE making these!!!! Children can stack or arrange them on the table and they really like to shake them as hard as they can and then place the bottle on the table and watch it light up as the stuff inside settles.

Magnetic Shapes
The magnetic shapes sets are made under several different names. I bought mine on Amazon and they’re awesome!!!!! I was very happy with mine. My guess is these are available at Walmart and stores like that. Many of the children had these at home, so they’re pretty popular. They could build for a good hour and maybe longer if we had the time during class. The magnetic tiles are fun on their own, but when put on the light table, it brings a whole new aspect to the tiles.

Bingo Chips
I’m sure these are called several different things. I found them by accident, but they’re listed on Amazon as “bingo chips“. This is another item I use printables with, or if you wanted, you could actually print out bingo sheets and play bingo on the light table. The kids like lining these up and asking each other, “What comes next?” in the series.

These are just a few suggestions for light board ideas to get you started. I think I may have enough ideas for another post on this subject alone! Have fun!

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