Our Light Table = Bedtime Play Without Disrupting Bedtime

We hadn't played with our DIY light table for months.  But it sits nicely on our playroom shelf, waiting.

Waiting... waiting... waiting on the bottom right of our shelf.

Until a few weeks ago, when I got home from the office to find Ladybug Girl all excited for her best friend's birthday the next day at school.  She had made this:

She was very proud of her "present"
(good thing I took a picture of this in the morning : she really did bring it school the next day!)

She immediately asked for the light table and I didn't know why.  Until she did this:

What a lovely way to appreciate her special kind of art.

Art is all about process when it comes to kids, but we ooh-ed and aah-ed over each detail.

And then a few nights ago, we caught a bug and brought out our handy light table again to inspect it.

We couldn't figure out what kind of bug it was

She got her Cat-in-the-Hat book "Oh Beyond Bugs" but she couldn't find it.

Even her daddy had no clue.

She built a home a tried to draw the bug while mommy went on a google search.

After some time, we finally googled the right clues to lead to this:

The ENSIGN WASP : it doesn't sting and it eats cockroach eggs!  Coooool.

We let it go soon because our light table was becoming too hot.  Ladybug Girl willingly let it go after welcoming it warmly into our home.  

"Welcome, Ensign Wasp!  Goodbye, see you around!"

And just as before, Ladybug Girl is trained to take yellow lights as her downtime routine.  That's why our nighttime play with the light table is a painless transition to bed without getting all wound up (at this point, if I switch on the white overhead lights she reminds me that it's not the right time for them).

Best of all, these nights become special memories of spontaneous play together, even after mommy's office day.  Sometimes it takes a little preparation to be spontaneous!