Homemade Doctor Kit Accessories - Play Prescription Pad and Broken Bone X-Rays

Michael and Ava had their annual pediatrician checkups recently and subsequently started playing doctor. Michael was making bandages out of tape and paper, which was adorable, but I did decide to buy the doctor's kit I found at Walmart to give them some props to add more dimension to their play. Then I had some ideas for some things I could make at home to add to their kit: a play prescription pad and some pretend broken bone x-rays.

Making a Play Doctor Prescription Pad

Michael likes to pretend to write prescriptions. On a whim I decided to try to make a prescription pad. I made a template and printed 20 copies (I printed mine in b/w because I've run out of color ink.). Save to your computer by clicking to open the full size image then right clicking and choosing "save as". Print and then trim off the footer and cut the pages in half.

Grab some glue (I used Mod Podge - I can't guarantee something else will work), a paintbrush and some binder clips. Cut a piece of thin cardboard (like from a cereal box) to the same size as your stack of play prescription paper to use as the back of the pad. Use the binder clips to hold the top together tightly. I only had five binder clips, but if you have more, use as many as possible so you can hold the pages together tightly along the entire top. Remove one clip at a time, painting the edges of the paper together with the glue then replace the clip to hold them as they dry. Do this to the paper under each binder clip until the entire edge is coated. Let dry for 15 minutes and then repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Once you have a fairly thick coating that is thoroughly dry you're done. Show your kids how to use their new prescription pad and toss it in their doctor bag along with a pencil/marker/crayon.

Making Play Broken Bone X-Rays

I did a google image search for broken bone x-rays and chose ones with really obvious breaks in four different bones (collarbone, leg, arm, finger). I printed them on a single piece of paper. I wanted our x-rays to be fairly small so they would store inside their play doctor's bag. I printed them and then traced along the outline of the main bone and edges of the break with a pencil to be sure they would show up. I cut out each x-ray and cut a second piece of paper to place on top. In this way, I made it so that the x-ray would need to be held up to a light to be examined. Then I made a frame from black construction paper and a little label for each x-ray. I took the final product and covered it in contact paper for durability. They can examine the x-rays by holding them up against a bright window or by placing them on one of our homemade light boxes.

Science on the Light Box: Oil and Water Revisited (with a little color theory)

I wanted to revisit our light box experiment with oil and colored water. Last time I noticed how well the different colors of water blended together in the experiment and how beautiful the colors were when backlit by the light box.

We always blend our secondary colors. I only have red, yellow, and blue tempera paints because that saves a little money and storage space. So the children are very familiar with making orange, green, and purple by mixing red, blue, and green. I had never done a formal introduction to the color wheel and the terms primary and secondary colors though. So, first we did a brief (5-10 minute) activity using paints and cardstock to introduce the color wheel. We put the three primary colors on the paper. Then we mixed the secondary colors in between each pair of primary colors.

Next I took small squeeze bottles filled with clear water and set them next to each color on the color wheel. First we colored the water with the three primary colors and then we mixed those to make each secondary color. We ended up with six squeeze bottles filled with different colors of water (red, blue, yellow, purple, green, orange).

I got out both light boxes and trays so that each child could play on their own. We took a moment to appreciate how pretty our bottles with colored water looked in an empty tray backlit by the light box.

I poured a small amount of cooking oil into each tray. I just put enough to cover the bottom of the tray with a shallow film of oil. Then the children began to squirt colored water onto the oil. The drops of water stay separate in the oil and float around like individual colored puddles.

If you are careful you can even make some simple shapes. I was able to make caterpillars and flowers for the children.

After a few seconds the surface tension of the oil releases and adjacent droplets of water combine. We were using the word "absorb". The children learned they could direct a stream of water from a squeeze bottle to manually break the surface tension and force a big drop to absorb smaller droplets. They made up a game of superheros and villains where the large superhero drops would absorb the small villains trying to attack them.

Everyone had a great time and we didn't quit until all the water had been used up from the squeeze bottles about an hour and a half after we began.

If I repeat the activity again, I will give each child a set of the three primary colors and encourage them to do their own color mixing as they play. I'll ask them to make a purple drop, green drop, and orange drop from the appropriate component primary colors. I'll see if their fine motor skills are good enough to make their own adjacent drops of primary colors without breaking the surface tension. Then we can all wait until the surface tension dissipates and the two colors swirl together to make the secondary color. It is all beautiful on the light boxes.

How to Make a Light Box Tutorial and Light Box Activities

Here is a detailed explanation of how we made our light boxes along with activity suggestions.

Making a Light Box – Tutorial

Materials:

• clear bin with lid
• masking tape and paper
• white spray paint (the kind designed to adhere to plastic)
• battery powered florescent lights
• semi-transparent paper (like pattern paper or tracing paper)

Procedure:

1. Purchase clear bin with lid. We chose fairly small bins because we wanted each child to be able to play on their own pulling the box into their lap if desired. If you want children to be able to work on larger projects or work in groups, choose a larger bin.
2. Purchase white spray paint designed to adhere to plastic. We used two cans and multiple coats for two small bins. Be prepared to use several cans. The thicker the coat of paint the less light you'll have leaking through the sides. You might even try a metallic silver or mirror style paint to get maximum reflectiveness, but I can't swear that'll work since we didn't do it that way.
3. Purchase battery powered florescent lights. We bought something similar to these. We started with two 6" lights per box, but ended up exchanging them for two 12" lights per box for the extra light.
4. Spray paint the inside of the box. Use at least 2-3 coats letting the paint dry according to directions between coats.
5. Use masking tape and paper to protect the areas of the lid you want paint free and then paint the inside of the lid. Again use at least 2-3 coats of paint.
6. Cut semi-transparent paper to the size of your lid and tape over clear area to diffuse the light coming through giving a light table effect and functionality to the box. We used pattern paper I had on hand that I had purchased from a fabric store. You could also use tracing paper or possibly even white construction paper.
7. Place battery powered florescent lights in box.

Using a Light Box – First Activities

So far, we have just played with translucent items on top of the box. Once they get bored with that, I'll start to introduce different art and sensory activities using the light box. So far we've used glass gems, mosaic shape tiles, translucent letters, and some translucent duplos on the box. The gems we sorted by color. The shapes can be sorted by color and shape. You can also use the shapes to make pictures. Two triangles make a diamond. Two squares make a rectangle. You can make a house or flower or anything else you can imagine. The translucent letters can just be sorted by color or letter or used to spell simple words. We didn't have enough translucent duplos to do much with, but the children thought they looked really cool on the light box.

Using a Light Box – Additional Activities

Here are some additional activities for the light box:

Art on the Light Box - Fingerpainting and Prints
Science on the Light Box - Oil and Colored Water
Science on the Light Box - Baking Soda and Colored Vinegar
Sand on the Light Box - Pre-Writing
Sand on the Light Box - Storytelling
More Light Box Activities - Sand Art and Silly Spheres

Sand on the Light Box: Storytelling

After we finished making our sand shapes the other day, I decided on a whim to use the light box / sand combo to do some impromptu storytelling. The first story that popped into my head was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children loved it! Now, keep in mind that I draw about as well as your average 4 year old, and yet somehow even my stick drawings in the sand on a light box are entrancing to young children.

Here are a few pictures I snapped during the storytelling.

Goldilocks

The Three Bears taking a walk in the forest.

Three hot bowls of porridge.

Goldilocks testing the three chairs.

Goldilocks waking up to see the three bears looking down at her.

The story reached its natural end and I was encouraging the children to do a little free play in the sand before it was time to put everything away. Most of my attention was on Ava, but then I realized that Michael had been busy. Next thing I know I turn my head and see this:

Everything you see there he drew on his own. Then he told Ava and I the story of Mama Cat and Michael Cat who had to go out and take their dog to the vet. While they were out a little girl from their village went into their house, sat in one of their chairs and ate up all their food... So, yes, his story was closely modeled after Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but I was very impressed with both his drawing and storytelling nonetheless.

Sand on the Light Box: Pre-Writing

I sat down on the computer and made some simple design cards. I intended to print them on cardstock and laminate them, but ran out of time so I just printed mine on regular paper.

Then I set up the two light boxes with the translucent shallow boxes and sand. I held up one card at a time and encouraged the children to try to copy the design in the sand. I gave feedback, tips, and encouragement as necessary. Michael could copy all of the simple shapes on his own and did pretty well with some tips on the more complex shapes. Ava was able to copy the very simple shapes on her own, the intermediate shapes with some tips, and the complex shapes with a lot of assistance.

This is an excellent activity for developing pre-writing skills. Pre-writing skills develop the fine motor strength and control necessary and the hand-eye coordination for writing without actually holding a writing implement (crayon, pencil, marker, etc.).

Here are the cut out cards and some examples of the children's copying. Michael used the orange sand and Ava used the blue.

Ideas to expand this activity:

1. Have the children name the shape (if it is simple) or name the shapes that make up a more complex shape. For example, "This is a square with a plus inside."
2. Show the card and ask the child to make a big, medium, or small version.
3. Add something to the picture. For example, show the oval and ask, "Can you draw this oval with a triangle on top?" (or underneath, or to the left, or to the right, etc.)
4. Subtract something from the picture. For example, "Can you draw this house without the roof?
5. Show two cards and ask them to draw both in their sand box at the same time. They will need to learn, through trial and error, how big to make each and how to leave room for the second while making the first.

Science on the Light Box: Baking Soda and Colored Vinegar

Light Box Science: Baking Soda and Colored Vinegar

I grabbed one light box and the translucent tray to go on top. I also got out some baking soda, food coloring, and four 2 oz squeeze bottles filled about halfway with vinegar and gathered the children around the light box on the kitchen floor.

We reviewed what happened when we mixed water and oil on the light box (they stay separate). I explained that this time we were going to put colored vinegar on baking soda. I let them taste the vinegar and the baking soda. They claimed they liked both. I had them make a guess about what would happen when we dripped colored vinegar on the baking soda (their guess was that the baking soda would get wet and turn colored).

We chose four colors of food coloring and colored the vinegar in the squeeze bottles. I also used some leftover colored water for contrast. I sprinkled a rather thick layer of baking soda in the translucent tray and began by dripping some colored water on the baking soda and asking them to tell me what happened. They decided that the baking soda was wet and colored just like they guessed.

Then we tried the colored vinegar and got colored bubbles. We decided that when vinegar combines with baking soda we get a different reaction than when water mixes with baking soda. Vinegar makes bubbles and water does not. That was as complex as we got.

They were quite impressed and couldn't wait to play themselves. I handed them squirt bottles and let them begin.

Ava discovered that if she mixed yellow and blue she could make green bubbles. That was a lot of fun. The next time I try this activity I think I'll give each child three bottles with red, blue, and yellow and encourage them to mix colors as they go.

At one point the first tray of baking soda was completely saturated and I quickly rinsed it out dried it. We distributed a much thinner layer the second time and tried to make actual designs.

Cleanup was as easy as rinsing the tray out and drying it with a cloth.

Science on the Light Box: Oil and Colored Water

Light Box Science: Oil and Colored Water

I grabbed one light box and the translucent tray to go on top. I also got out some cooking oil, food coloring, and four 2 oz squeeze bottles filled about halfway with water and gathered the children around the light box on the kitchen floor.

I asked them what happens when you mix food coloring with water. They replied that the water gets colored. "True," I said. "So, water and food coloring mix well together?" They agreed. We then colored each of the four bottles a different color.

Then I poured enough oil into the tray to completely cover the bottom and let them touch and explore the texture of the oil. After a few minutes I asked them what they thought would happen when we put the colored water in the oil. They guessed that the oil would "get colored." I said said, "Let's see." I put a few drops in and we talked about how water and oil don't mix well and so the droplets of water stay suspended in the oil. Then I just let them play. They had so much fun.

They were tentative at first, getting the feel for the squeeze bottles (it was the first time we used them) but soon the tray began to fill with tiny droplets of colored water. It was quite pretty.

They discovered they could make their dots bigger by putting several drops in the same place and even blend colors by using two or more colors in the same dot.

We found we could make two dots side by side that were "friends" until one inevitably got too pushy and absorbed the other. That was a very cool effect and the kids reproduced it many times.

Finally, before cleaning up, I let them get their hands back in. Ava just enjoyed the sensory experience. Michael noticed he could disturb all the big dots and make them into itty bitty tiny ones and enjoyed destroying every big dot he could find.

Cleanup was as easy and rinsing the tray out and then using dishwashing liquid to get the oil residue out of the tray so it would be ready for the next experiment.

Light Table Fingerpainting and Prints

In honor of all the people stopping by from ohdeedoh.com to check out how we made our homemade light boxes, I'm doing a post about another activity we did on our boxes.

Light Table Fingerpainting and Prints

Our light boxes are made from plastic storage bins, so we can get messy on them without worrying about damaging them at all so we didn't need to start by protecting the table. I began by filling an ice cube tray with blue, yellow, red liquid tempera paints. Then we mixed green, purple, and orange as well. At that point I sat back and watched the kids explore finger painting on the light boxes. They began conservatively with one finger and small dots and smears. They worked up to multi-finger rainbows and two-handed smearing of the entire surface.

Then, to continue their interest in the project I taught them how to make prints by pressing pieces of white tagboard onto the light table and then peeling them back up. They loved it. They explored different color combinations and patterns and compared the results before deciding on their next experiment.

We didn't stop until we ran out of time and the kitchen was pretty much a disaster. However, as messy as it looked, the paint rinsed right off of the lids of the bins and out of the ice cube tray in about 5 minutes. Then I let everything dry and picked it all up at once. So the cleanup didn't take long at all.

As a side note, I have succeeded in getting Ava so used to painting that she now doesn't hesitate to dive into paint with her fingers as long as she has a towel nearby to frequently wipe her fingers with. Big sensory/OT success there.

You might also be interested in the following posts:

More Light Table Activities

Homemade Light Boxes

Salt Art

Busy Book / Quiet Book Chalkboard