This little light of mine...

This is a easy activity to set up and perfect for the short winter days we have at the moment. Wasn't yesterday freezing?!! When the sun goes down, set up a homemade "light box" for your kids to play in the dark.

There are several homemade light box suggestions on the web.  You can find some here at Growing a Jeweled Rose, the Imagination tree or Tinker lab.  I simplified my light box even more with no wax paper, no fancy light box shapes, no electricity involved...

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What do you need?

• A large white or clear storage box (I used an under-bed storage box).
• Light source (I used 3 battery-operated push lights from Ikea)
• Shiny bits (I used glass beads, straws, checker pieces and cellophane shapes)

What you need to do...
Turn on the lights, put them in the box and put on the lid....easy!! Done!  Don't forget to turn off the room lights!

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Mr 4 and Miss 7 love playing with this homemade light box. We used things we could find around the house (glass beads, checker pieces and straws).  Mr 4 added his cars on a later play. We also made some cellophane shapes by cutting out holes in black paper and placing different coloured cellophane onto these.  

Our box has ridges in the lid which is not ideal as it is not a flat surface.  If you are looking for a box to use, I think you will get an even broader range of play without the ridges. 

The set-up is so easy that the kids can turn on the lights themselves and find various objects suitable for the top.

There is something about playing in the dark that kids enjoy.  Try this out quickly before Winter ends and daylight saving begins!  Do your kids love playing in the dark?

Looking for more easy homemade ideas? Try these...