Geometric Shape Fun on the Light Table

We are excited to be sharing with you the geometric shape fun on the light table that we had this month. My children and I have been loving our light table. We cannot recommend it enough. We have been doing so much with it for many of our hands-on activities. It would take dozens of blog posts to share it all. Let us tell you what we did this time around. It was fantastic.

You can also visit my Fun Preschool Activities blog post to get more ideas on how to make learning fun for your preschooler.

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Geometric Shape Fun on the Light Table

First, I surprised my little ones with a super fun set of colorful see-through geometric shapes. Oh, you should’ve seen their faces! They were hardly letting me get them out of the container, so I just handed it to them and let them have at it. The next thing I knew, they were exploring and analyzing every single shape and color.

Children are simply amazing to me. They discussed colors, shapes, and sizes, and they were fascinated at how these see-through giant beads fit on the tips of their fingers. They wiggled their fingers and went “tap, tap, tap” on the light table. My oldest even pretended to play the piano on the light table with the giant beads on their fingertips. They also had fun with the color-mixing paddles.

Geometric Shape Fun on the Light Table Supplies

To kick things off, here’s what you’ll need: a light table (or a makeshift one with a transparent plastic container and a string of LED lights), a variety of transparent colored shapes for stacking and arranging, and pattern cards for guided play.

This setup isn’t just about playing with pretty lights; it’s a fantastic way to explore concepts of geometry, color mixing, and symmetry. Plus, the mesmerizing glow of the light table makes this learning activity magical, helping little minds grasp big ideas in a fun, engaging way.

la-belle-vie Light Table for Kids | Light Table Manipulatives | Preschool Light Table | Sand Painting Light Box | Light Table for Kids Sensory | Light Table Toys|3 Modes,10-Level Dimming16 (Pink)NUOBESTY 6pcs Color Paddles Translucent Film Color Filter Board Preschool Science Discovery Equipment Teaching Tools for Kids Classroom Supplies edxeducation Translucent Linking Cubes – Construction Toy for Early Math – Set of 100 – 0.8 Inch – Light Table Toy – Elementary + Preschool Learning 65 Pcs Plastic Practice Set Transparent Letters and Numbers Include Uppercase Letters Lowercase Letters and Numbers Colorful Plastic Letters and Numbers for Kids Counting and Spelling, Ages 3+edxeducation Transparent Numbers Set – Mini Jar Set of 40 – Colorful, Plastic Numbers – Light Box Accessory – Sensory Play – Math Manipulative for Kids edxeducation Transparent Pattern Blocks – Mini Jar Set of 120 – Plastic Pattern Blocks – Practice Sorting, Patterns, Measurement and Fractions – Sensory Play – Math Manipulative for Kids

Provocation and Free Play

I had several lesson plans listed in my head. I thought of activities to do and lessons to teach them with the colorful see-through geometric shapes on the light table. But for today, it seems that the thing for me to do was to just sit back and let them “do their thing.” After all, like someone famous once said, “play is the most important work,” right?

But you know what the most awesome and fascinating thing was? On their own, they started to discuss different things that they observed about the shapes. They even showed me, without me saying a word, that they already knew what I wanted to teach them in my mental lessons! My youngest noticed that there were different colors, so she had the idea to sort the shapes by color.

Recommended Books About Shapes

Teach kids about geometry with my top picks for Shape Books for Kids, where every page turn brings a new understanding of the fun and fundamentals of shapes in our world!

The Book of Cute Shapes: A book about shapes for infants, toddlers and young kids. (Qt Learning)Walter’s Wonderful Web: A First Book About Shapes Tangled: A Story About Shapes My Very Silly Monster Book of Shapes: A Very Silly Monster way to learn all about shapes Big Box of Shapes (Basic Concepts)We Are the Shapes

Learning the Fun Way

I was fascinated by how much my oldest was teaching my youngest. They began mixing colors and putting colors together to make new ones. I enjoyed watching them hold different shapes on their hands and using their hands as giant human scales to discuss weight and density. Why are the giant beads heavier than the see-through geometric shapes? Why is the yellow hexagon heavier than the green triangle?

These were some of the questions they would ask and respond to themselves. I want to invite you to surprise your little ones with hands-on activities like these and just sit back to observe. Children are amazing. Enjoy and bask in their sense of wonder.

Thank you for reading our Geometric Shape Fun on the Light Table post! I’d love to invite you to read some beautiful posts with activities that my children have loved: