Lite-Brite Magic Screen

Lite-Brite Magic Screen - Comes with reusable templates

Lite-Brite Magic Screen is Lite-Brite's first unit with reusable templates! I have always liked Lite-Brite (even as a kid), but I admit my favorite unit is the original white unit with the wide base of support. It stands on its own and allows you to work on a vertical surface. You can still find them in places like eBay, if you are curious and want to check them out.

The newer Lite-Brite units are flat screens and have to either be held up, and can be heavy and hard to hold still while breaking through the paper, or used flat. This Lite-Brite Magic Screen unit is the same in that aspect, use flat or hold up, but it is made of a much more flexible plastic and is quite light, especially without the green box of pegs attached to the side (see image on box, above). 

The templates are card stock, white on the back and black on the front, with the peg shapes printed in colors and the holes already punched out. And unlike the original Lite-Brite, these pegs come in multiple shapes. Another plus. Since the holes are already neatly cut into the templates, they can be used over and over and you will be able to continue to see the colors needed.

   

       

Because of the pegs, this is an all around great activity for working on hand skills (see ideas below under Try This). The peg shapes include round, square, triangle, curve, and large specialty pieces, like a sun, bird, fish, and car wheel. They include just enough pieces to complete some of the puzzles so don't lose any. Peg colors are yellow, green, blue, pink, orange, white.

The working surface of this unit is black with small round holes.The holes are covered with a flexible material that you push the pegs through and it does not require much force to push through because it is already open for up. You can see the holes on the unit in the image, above. The pegs stay in place very well. Once a peg is pulled back out of the hole, the hole closes back up. Part of the appeal of the original Lite-Brite is that the templates are made of a black construction-type paper and it requires more strength to break through the paper to push the peg in. They created the picture on the unit (image above) without a template behind it. Once you put down a template card to work, anywhere that is not a peg hole that you need for your pattern will be covered by the template card and solid black (see images of templates above). So even if the individual does not match the colors as he is working, he will still have a picture because he cannot put a peg into a hole that is not part of the picture. The green box is removable from the unit and is where you store your pegs. It snaps closed but it is not secure enough to trust that it will not come open when being jostled in my cart. Like everything else, I just rubber band it.

By pushing the button below the image, the light inside the unit will turn on and illuminate your pegs (the brite part of the name). Illuminate as you go for a nice glow (my preference), or turn it on at the end for a nice surprise. You will actually get a light show of types, because each time you push the button the light will change from steady to all flash to flashing one area of the screen at a time. Kids have liked it and I like it a lot as a tool to work on in-hand manipulation skills. You can also buy a couple of different refill sets that include extra templates and pegs. I got mine at the Walmart online store, which was considerably cheaper than Amazon this time. The copyright date on the box is 2014, but I could not find this product anywhere on the Hasbro site. However, when I was there I did find an awesome online tool that allows you to create your own picture templates to print on your own computer. I think they will work for all versions of Lite-Brite. Also available to print on your computer are 19 free pre-made templates. At the time of this writing, their address is this: http://www.hasbro.com/litebrite/en_US/

If you would like to read more about peg board type activities, check out my post on What's in Your Therapy Box? Peg Board Edition.

Try this:

• Put two or three pegs in the child's hand, between the base of the fingers and the fingertips. Ask him to push them out to the fingertips one at a time, rotate to position and place in the unit without dropping any.
• Leave the pieces needed in the green box so that the individual will have to find what he needs in the crowded box.
• Ask the child to pick up two or three pieces, such as three square blues, and squirrel in the palm without dropping. Start from flat on the table and then move to the crowded box to increase the difficulty. Then bring to the fingertips one at a time for placement as above.
• Stand the pieces upside down on the table as the individual needs them. This will require him to pick up each piece and turn it in-hand to position it correctly for placement. Leave room between the pegs because they are easy to knock over if you bump them.
• Sort the pegs by color into a muffin tin before starting. Pick up several pieces at a time and bring them to the fingertips, one at a time, to sort.
• Push pegs into Theraputty or Play-doh. Make animals or designs.
• Flatten a mound of Theraputty or Play-doh and drag the pointed end of the peg through to draw letters or pictures.
• Ask the individual to cup one hand and hold it in that position as you drop the pegs in one at a time. How many can he hold? Cup the other hand and try again, trying to hold at least one more.
• Call out a color and the individual adds some of those pegs, then call out another color and keep working.
• Finish the picture one color at a time. For example, place all blue pegs, then place all green pegs, etc.
• Put the pegs away by pulling them out one at a time and squirreling them into the hand (you will have to hold the unit still with one hand as you pull out the pegs with the other). Put them back into the box by handfuls.
• Make your own image on the unit without a pattern card. 
• Use the unit without a pattern card. Make a line of pegs in a pattern and the ask the individual to make the same pattern under yours. Or, you start a pattern and ask the individual to complete it. For example you could start a pattern such as green, blue, pink, green, blue, pink, and then let them keep going to the edge of the unit. 
• Work on manual dexterity, pincer grasp, fine motor precision, separation of two sides of the hand, in-hand manipulation, coordinated use of both hands, tactile perception, visual discrimination, visual closure, figure ground, spatial relations, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  

In the box: 1 unit, 200 pegs, 6 reusable templates, 1 green removable storage tray

 For more information, click on the image below.