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Alphabet Cups on the Light Box

September 20, 2013 by Anna Ranson

Explore the ABC in a fun, multi-sensory way using alphabet cups on the light box. A perfect for all age groups which can be adapted to suit their various stages in literacy development and just used for simple, playful stacking fun!Playing with alphabet cups on the light table

 

After Christmas last year we made our very own light box using the simplest and easiest method known to mankind! Here’s how to make this super-simple, DIY light box.  One of the first materials we used on the box were these wonderfully bright, neon shot glasses (about £1 in the supermarket) which we had used lots in our stacking cups discovery box in the past. They sorted them, stacked them, explored how they looked over the light, lined them up and played with them.ABC cups on the light table

 

Then we pulled them out again recently and I simply added letters of the alphabet (and some numbers too) using a Sharpie permanent marker. They kept their other qualities and also had the added benefit of offering some literacy learning into the play.

Literacy cups on the light box

Pop was able to find the letters she needed to make her name and spell it out in the right order. She then looked for some letters to match the sounds that I was calling out and we turned it into a phonics I-Spy game. Baby Bean simply enjoyed stacking, rolling, and picking them up.

Building sight words on the light box

Cakie was able to make her name and then move onto starting to sound out and spell small, CVC words independently. This would also be a great way for children to practise learning and writing their sight words by memory. Or use them to write numbers on instead and put them in the right order, do small addition and subtraction proems or make numbers to represent quantities with.Light box ABC

What they are learning as they play:

literacy: recognising and naming graphemes, recognising and sounding out phoniness, matching phonemes to graphemes, making own name, sounding out small words, sight word recognition

motor skills: stacking, rolling, constructing

science & discovery: exploring the effect of light on coloured objects

You can see a discovery box we made using these same neon cups in this activity.

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Filed Under: Age, Alphabet, Construction, Discovery, Kinaesthetic Learning, Learn, Letters, Light Box, Light Table, Literacy, Make, Play, Preschooler, Resources, School Age, Toddler Tagged With: Alphabet, Early Literacy, Literacy, Phonics, Playful Literacy

« Giant Colour Themed Sensory Tub
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Comments

  1. Shaunna @ Fantastic Fun and Learning says

    September 20, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    What a fun idea! My oldest would love this for practicing sight words, and my youngest would love stacking and playing with the cups.

  2. Cheryl says

    September 21, 2013 at 1:27 am

    This looks fun! Thank you for sharing.

  3. Fi Star-Stone says

    September 24, 2013 at 2:21 pm

    I love this! What an awesome idea and I’m going to have a go at the light box too!

  4. Hilary says

    September 26, 2013 at 1:01 am

    This looks great. Where do you suggest I purchase transparent plastic shot glasses- haven’t seen those in my travels.

  5. pasta multicolore says

    December 10, 2013 at 10:31 am

    This is very fascinating, You are an overly skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post. Also, I have shared your site in my social networks

Trackbacks

  1. Top 10 Ways to Remember the ABCs | Fantastic Fun & Learning says:
    September 20, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    […] Alphabet Cups on the Light Box (The Imagination Tree) […]

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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