Color and Light Experiments with a Light Box

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Did you see my post a while back about color mixing with light?  Well we did some more color and light experiments by making a light box.  This was a really awesome way to learn all about reflection and refraction of light as well as colors. I can’t wait to show it all to you!

How to Make a Light Box:

There are a few supplies you will need for this project.

Shoebox
Colored Cellophane
Prisms
Mirrors
Popsicle Sticks
Light Bulb and portable cord to attach it

How to To Make the Light Box:

To make the light box, I started by covering my box in black paper just to look better, it is definitely not necessary.

At one end, you need to cut a hole in the box that will fit the light bulb and cord. The bulb will be inside the box, so you will want there to be enough space so it is not touching any sides of the box. This could start a fire!

Cut a square out of the other side of the box to fit your colored slides.

How To Make the Colored Slides:

I used popsicle sticks, tape and colored cellophane for this. For the solid colored ones, you just make a frame with the sticks and some glue. We used school glue, but hot glue would be quicker.

Let the sticks dry and then tape on the cellophane. Glue does not hold the cellophane on.

We tried an orange and a purple one by doing double layers, but you could easily mix colors by placing two frames together.

For the multicolored frame, you will need to make the square frame then add additional popsicle sticks going through the center. Then tape the separate colors to each section. I did it with red blue and green.

I also made a pinhole frame and one with a small slit in the center. These were done with black construction paper so only a small section of light can come through. It helps pinpoint light to specific places.

Color and Light Experiments with the Light Box:

Now comes the fun part!  Try experimenting with prisms, different colors of light and mirrors. Find a dark place to do this so it will work better. I laid out a white sheet so we could really see the color and light well.

For this image below we used the slide with a small slit in the center and a prism. We could direct the light by turning the prism. Add in some mirrors to reflect the light different ways, too. You will need a few hands involved!

For this one, we used the three-colored slide and three prisms. It was so cool to see the colored light divide out. My kids were fascinated by this one!

We loved the multi-colored slide a lot!

As you can see that seems to be what we played with the most!

We were having way too much fun with the color and light experiments!  You have got to try it out!

More Color and Light Experiments:

Try Color Mixing with Light

See our Color Mixing with Play Dough!

Rainbow Color Mixing In Bubble Wrap

Shadow Drawing: Make a Human Sundial