DIY light table

Well I really do actually do many of the millions of things I pin on Pinterest and we finally made a real light table!

I asked just about everyone I know who has done this for tips and looked at every blog post about it ever before I spent the $30 on it. Ours is one clear plastic under the bed storage box with plastic frosting spray from Lowe's sprayed very lightly in one coat (more and it will peel) in the main bin. Two florescent bar lights ($10 each bulb included) in the lid and some foil on the bottom to increase the reflection of the light in the box. It works super!

Ah ha ha this is Ava's 'I am so stressed Lilly is playing with this' stance.

You can make pictures. 

You can put a sensory box on it or just a dish with some rice like we did here. Think rice, liquids, paint, etc.

These are our first materials all from the dollar tree - clear airplanes, colored linking shapes, jewels, clear straws cut in different lengths.

This is just the sort of thing I love to do with the girl's. It is easy, appeals to both of them (11 months and 3), and is high on the exploratory open-ended play scale. There are hundreds of ways to play with this. I get really happy when something this easy gets so popular on the internet because there is an amazing sharing of 'mom ideas' and I love that!

Here are some links -
- Put a mirror behind it or make a mosaic - http://reggiokids.blogspot.com/2011/10/beautiful-house.html
- Color play with colored translucent objects, discs, wands, etc. http://kristin-senseofwonder.blogspot.com/2011/09/light-box-color.html
- Play at home mom really has the most activities posted. I really like her painting on plexi idea, liquid color mixing and the colored bubbles activities - http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/search/label/Playing%20with%20Light
- You can also buy x-rays and put them on the table or those cool water beads (I just ordered about a million of them here on eBay for $6 shipped) the possibilities are endless!

Next up for us playing with the black light I bought! Check out Play At Home's links for black lights!

The Girls

Lilly is turning 6 months old in a week and Ava is two. They are already so different. It will be so interesting to see their little personalities develop and contrast.

Lilly is such a lover, so sweet and so affectionate. She is extremely laid back and loves to play with toys. She has big eyes and huge long eyelashes like her sister but much more hair than Ava had even when she was one. Lilly has my light skin tone and her daddy's beard gives her red bumps on her cheeks if he kisses her a whole bunch - but since she thinks it is hilarious he does it anyway.  Cracking up laughing is her most popular trick around the house. Lilly is really close to sitting on her own and she tries really hard to sit up. She adores food, possibly more than any baby I have seen and she can already polish off an entire jar of stage 1 food - which in 'non-baby' speak is a whole lot! Lilly hardly ever cries and everyone notices and comments on it. Probably her love for food combined with the fact that she is weighs 17lbs now helps her sleep so well for naps and at night. Everyone in the house calls her 'the lilla billa' or just 'lilla' for short.

Ava is blossoming into a remarkable little person. She is really funny and her language skills are quite impressive and almost flawless. Ava is absolutely the girliest tom boy I know. She likes to dress up and play with dolls but she prefers throwing sand and running in the sprinkler. She is such a daredevil and must be watched like a hawk. Almost every night after dinner I push her on the swing outside and she screams for me to swing her 'higher, all the way to the sky' while I swing her so high it would probably make your stomach turn to watch her. She has her 'two' moments but she is mostly extremely agreeable and reasonable. Ava will eat anything and will pass up cheese crackers for a bag of whole kalamata olives. Her eyes have changed from blue to the same green as mine and she has her daddy's olive skin. These days we still call her 'Ava Mava' but mostly the shorter versions 'the mave' and 'Ave'.