Our kids need sensory learning opportunities and one way we do that is with our light box or light table. Do you have a light box or light table in your classroom? These are great for sensory learning and the great thing is that you don’t have to spend a ton of money on a light box! I’m excited to show you how to make a DIY lightbox for your classroom!
Sensory Learning: DIY LIGHT BOX
Sensory Learning Materials:
A plastic box with a lid (find a lid with as few lines as possible, mine is Sterlite 24L x 16W x 7H), LED lights, metallic spray paint, and frosted spray paint. The LED lights can change colors and flash, or the students can use the remote to pick the colors!
I use these lights from Amazon:
Step 1: Spray paint the inside of the box metallic. This helps reflect the light up and out! Do not spray the lid with metallic paint.
Step 2: Spray paint the lid with the frosted spray paint. This keeps the light from being too bright! This is not necessary but helpful. I have made a second light box without the frosting, and it works great! The frosting will also scratch and scrape off over time, but we’ve used our light box for 10 years, and it’s really not bad at all and hasn’t been redone at all.
Step 3: Drill a hole in the bottom corner of the box for the rope light. Slide the slide through.
Sensory Learning: Light Box Tools
So, you’ve made a lightbox, now what do you use with it? Anything transparent or translucent works great!
Our favorite tool is these plastic cups from Dollar Tree—yep, shot glasses! The neon colors glow on the lightbox. To use them, we print clear mailing labels and stick them on the cups!
We also like using acrylic table scatters for our light box! You can find all kinds of different items at Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, Michaels, Temu, etc. Another place to look is the ornament aisle at Christmas! We found these mini Christmas light-shaped ornaments that were perfect for our light box.
We also use these translucent cubes to count on the light box!
CLICK HERE TO GET THE CUBES ON AMAZON!
We also love reusable ice cubes for the lightbox! These sensory learning tools can be found at any store or on Amazon. And they come in lots of shapes and colors!
Check out our favorite sensory learning materials on Amazon:
To see ideas on how to use the lightbox for math and literacy, check out these posts:
