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Hey there! My name is Kayla Englert and I am the Conference Manager for The Educator Summit. After being in the classroom for over 7 years, I have been at The Educator Summit for over three years and I could not be more excited about what we have in store for you! Our goal is to provide you with the best professional development, right in your inbox. So we are launching our revamped The Educator Summit Newsletter to deliver FREE PD content to your inbox every Monday. Each newsletter will include a FREE snippet of PD from one of our amazing presenters that you can use in your classroom right away! And don’t forget about Free File Fridays when we send a free file to your inbox that you can use within your classroom the following week. We think you will get incredible value out of this content and we would love to hear your feedback. Head over to our Facebook and Instagram pages, give us a follow, and leave a comment letting us know what you think. We look forward to hearing from you! Our first snippet comes from Jackie Kops, owner and author of Pocket of Preschool. Check it out below and as always... Happy Teaching!!! - Kayla |
LIGHT TABLES: build fine motor skills with your preschool, kindergarten and first grade students!
What is a light table?
A light table is a versatile tool that can be used to engage a child’s sense of touch and sight, presenting students with a unique learning experience. Throughout this snippet, I’ll highlight a couple of ways you can use the tactile nature of light table activities to develop your students’ fine motor skills.
Jackie’s personal favorite manipulatives to use on light tables include: little bingo chips, letter and number sets, pattern blocks, glass gems, and clear containers. A lot of these items you can find at stores like Lakeshore or Amazon.
Perhaps you already have some of these items
- Transparent beads
- Ice cube trays
- Transparent blocks, like the Magnet Titles or Marble Works
All of these are great to have but anything transparent will work. I’m betting you already have these things in your classroom, and I guarantee you, if you go around and look, you're gonna have more things than you think.
Also, check your art closet or your sensory table - a lot of the things that you use in the sensory table, you can also use on the light table!
👉 Click to Get More Info from Jackie On Light Tables
Fine motor skills: We all know that students need to have strong fingers and wrists in order to write and do all the things that they need to do in kindergarten and first grade and beyond.
Below I will highlight two activities you can use in the classroom right away:
Activicty 1: Cookie Cutter, Roll & Fill Game!
- Prep: Fill a tray with beads and place in the center of the light table.
- Tools: Place cookie cutters and tweezers around the tray.
- Task: Encourage students to pick up the beads with tweezers and place them inside the cookie cutters.
You can also use a variety of themed trays and cookie cutters depending on the time of year: pumpkins, turkeys, Christmas trees, Valentine’s hearts, you name it!
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Activicty 2: Lacing!
- Prep: Place pipe cleaners and pony beads on the light table. You can make the pipe cleaners into so many different shapes, like a pumpkin or snowflake design. Cut some pipe cleaners in half and twisting a few together into a snowflake shape. You can also make snakes or caterpillars, candy canes, or lightning bolts.
- Task: With all of these shapes and designs placed around the light table, students will love working with the pipe cleaners and placing pony beads on each strand.
Students find these two activities very engaging and while completing them, they use those fine motor muscles. And the stronger they are, the less students will struggle with writing in the later grades.
By incorporating these activities into your classroom, you can help your students develop the skills they need for writing, drawing, and other daily tasks - enjoy!
Interested in learning more about how to get started with a light table and the benefits of using a light table in your classroom? You can visit Jackie’s Amazon storefront, which has all of the materials referenced above, by clicking the button below!
Jump NOW to Jackie's Amazon store!
Did you loved this PD snippet from Jackie Kops? She'll be diving even deeper at our upcoming Winter Summit 2026. You won't want to miss it - click the button below to learn more.
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P.S. Always remember, humor is your friend…
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