Making Things With Light

Lite Brite was the toy that made it tolerable to visit the homes of girls during the late 60's and early 70's. (The Easy Bake Oven also had a lot of appeal, but the girls I knew were always out of batter mix, a crushing disappointment which typically lead to deploying her stuffed animal collection as projectiles in an "animal fight.")

This is why one of the first toys I bought my own daughter was a Lite Brite, in this case the super special cube model that allows up to 4 children to make "things with light" all at once. Certainly there is nothing innately feminine about the product, but even when I break it out at school in a world existing some 30 years in the future of the original TV advertising blitz, it still tends to attract more girls than boys.

We long ago ran out of those little pre-cut black paper squares to overlay the light grid, but have found that black construction paper works just fine, although without the convenient little pre-printed white dots the kids have to hunt around for the proper place to insert the light pegs, but they've proven they can manage it. And those pegs provide solid fine motor practice, not to mention the patterning play.

I've found I need to duct tape the cube to the table top to prevent it from sliding around as kids go at it from all sides, and you'll notice (if you look carefully) that I've also duct taped a rim of wood sticks around the edge of the table to reduce the risk of all those little pegs getting scattered all over the floor -- it still happens but not so prolifically.

But the most heartwarming thing about our Lite Brite is the reaction of the moms as they spy it in the classroom, especially if they're the lucky parent-teacher in charge of it for the morning. Most of them are so delighted they sing:



The kids are lucky to have a teacher who, for the morning at least, is a child herself.