Homemade Light Box for Kids

I've always wanted one but it would be cray cray to spend RM 500 on a box with light.

The story that inspired our cheapo box:

The other day, the kids were very disappointed when their fav Cloud B turtle wouldn't light up.

"Mama, turtle died?" asked the firstborn.

Err, yeah. It happens when you are too lazy to remove old batteries from toys.

Autopsy: The battery compartment was slightly rusty looking.
Cause of death: Battery leakage

I was going to chuck him into the soft toys bin when I recalled how much Turtle cost.

Exactly RM 150..... OMG, I have to save him!

So, I cleaned the compartment using a couple of cotton buds dipped in apple cider vinegar (undiluted)
and voila! Good as new.

You can call me Doc Mcstuffin now, I told Tiger.

I know, I know, I felt like such a genius. I was walking around the whole day, feeling smug, until hubs reminded me about some drum I threw away for the same reason. Jealous!

Anyways, the kids were thrilled to have him back and a cue for mama to extend their love for light play.


The BOX:

I got some white fairy lights from Fun&Cheer for RM 19.80. Hubs paid for them since I conveniently forgot my wallet (as usual). 

For the box, I reused my trusty IKEA Antonius (If there is one thing you must have, it is a good large container). The box itself is opaque in general and the lid is slightly frosted.

 

 Just dump all the fairy lights inside, plug in and play! 

I taped 2 pieces of A4 sheets to the lid to diffuse the light.

 

It was late when we started, so I just grabbed the Magformers box.

Magformers are these open-ended shapes with magnets.

You can create all kinds of cool stuff with 'em

He could differentiate pentagon from hexagon.

So, I asked him hexagon has how many sides?

Eight

=.="

So, I showed him that six triangle can form a hexagon.
How many sides again?
Six.
Yay! Math lesson in disguise

Playing with a free gift.

Teaching mama something I cannot recall now

cause I was too busy staring at his face.

NOTES ON LIGHT BOX:

1. DO NOT play if you know you have an impending migraine. My bad. I actually puked before bed.
Urgghh....

2. Always diffuse the light from the LED. Some people used tracing paper. Our light was very bright and it didn't have a dimmer, so I used A4 papers. Just add more paper if you find it is still too bright.

3. The ideas for play are endless: Just following pinterest ideas will suffice.
Have fun!