Make: Playing with Light

This family-friendly make explores playing with light, inspired by Derby’s very own ‘Painter of Light’, Joseph Wright, whose work can be seen in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

In this sensory session, Ursula Rae will experiment with different light sources and show you how to create a lightbox at home, using all sorts of found and household objects to explore how light can shine, reflect and create shadows.

Scroll down to see the materials you will need. You can also download the activity sheet to accompany the film here.

Suitable for families with children aged 2-5 years, and for young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND)

This online session is free of charge, however, if you are able to consider making a donation, this will help us to continue to conserve our heritage and re-open our doors for future generations. All of your generous donations will be matched pound for pound by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Donate here.

Materials List

For this session, you will need:

• A see-through plastic sandwich box with lid (the bigger the better)

• Fairy lights or a torch

• A window to hang things in

• Drawing materials

• String/sticky tape to hang things up

You will also need a selection of things to experiment with. Here are some ideas below, but you may wish to try others:

• Shiny materials such as foil or a Compact Disc

• Transparent materials such as coloured sweet wrappers

• Netting from fruit packaging

• Natural materials such as leaves, feathers, pine cones

• Small objects with interesting patterns and shapes – these could be toys or things you find around the house

• A handful of rice or pasta

• Different thicknesses of paper

• Sponges

Suggested materials for the activity

Click the image to download the activity sheet