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You are here: Home / Winter Activities / Preschool Winter Light Table with Loose Parts

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Preschool Winter Light Table with Loose Parts

January 7, 2013 by Sheryl Cooper

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Inside: Put together a preschool winter light table with loose parts while exploring the colors white and blue. This activity also includes different textures for hands-on sensory fun!

Invite your toddlers and preschoolers to explore the colors white and blue with this winter light table.

We’ve added different shapes and textures for sensory fun, as well as bottles to shake and look through.

The loose parts pieces we’ve used can be altered so that you use similar items depending on what you have on hand.

A nice addition to your winter theme!

preschool winter light table with loose parts

We didn’t always have a light table in our classroom. In fact, it was many years into my teaching career that I toured a facility where each classroom had one.

I was so intrigued!

Through fundraising money, we were fortunate to be able to purchase a light table and have had one in the classroom ever since.

Throughout the years we’ve invited our toddlers and preschoolers to explore a variety of materials on the light able, many of which you can see in this post:

Ultimate Collection of Light Table Activities

Our light table is one of the many activities that are available during our free-choice centers time.

Children can come and go as they wish, and they often will play at bit at the light table, returning once or maybe twice more for further hands-on play.

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Preschool Winter Light Table with Loose Parts

When I decided to put together this light table, I rummaged through our storage room looking for a variety of materials I felt would be fun to explore.

Some of the items:

  • Snowflake window clings
  • Window blocks
  • Color Paddles
  • Wicker ratan balls

I also added sensory bottles that I had made the year before.

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Discovery Bottles

Discovery bottles are always fun at the light table!

I partially filled an empty Voss Water Bottle with water and added snowflake confetti. I hot-glued the lid closed.

I had plain blue bottles as well (a mixture of water and blue liquid watercolors).

Such a fun addition to this winter light table!

More discovery bottles:

Easy Winter Discovery Bottles

4th of July Discovery Bottles

Ocean Discovery Bottles

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Setting Up the Light Table

Ready to hear how easy this is?

After gathering your materials, spread them out on the surface of your light table.

That’s it!

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Invitation to Play

No directions are needed for open-ended play at the light table.

The children explore the pieces, moving them around, looking inside them, noticing the way they feel.

They might distinguish those that are round and those that are straight.

The pieces can be manipulated and stacked, possibly fitting inside each other.

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Everything on the light table is meant to be moved around.

In the photo above, one toddler wanted to see if the small snowflake window cling could fit inside the block.

Were they the same size and shape?

preschool winter light table with loose parts

There is a sense of wonder as the pieces sit on top of the light while moving all the pieces around.

A fun open-ended play activity!

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Adding Winter to Other Centers

After putting together this winter light table, try these ideas in other centers:

CIRCLE TIME: Snowman In The Cold Activity

COLORS: Mitten Color Matching

ART: Winter Collage

FINE MOTOR: Fine Motor Snowflake Art

COOKING: Snowflake Cookies

SENSORY BIN: Winter Sensory Bin

preschool winter light table with loose parts

Books to read with this activity:


preschool winter light table with loose parts
TPT Winter Dot Stamping Pack
TPT Winter Learning Pack
toddler circle time winter counting props

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Filed Under: Light Table, preschool, Toddlers, Winter Activities Tagged With: light table, preschool, toddlers, winter

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

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