Discovery Boards are clear acrylic boards. They are designed for a wide variety of uses including as canvases for temporary art projects, transparent building platforms for table construction toys, and surfaces for discovering the details of natural and other materials. A set of ten mini magnifiers is included with the set. Holes on each end make it possible to hang them for displaying works of art, words, letters, number forms and natural objects.
These versatile and portable boards are meant to be used in any environment. Simply move the board to change the ‘canvas’ background. Place it on white paper and the background is white, on a tree and the canvas is bark and so on!
A Discovery Board is an ever changing canvas for art creations! It is a versatile and portable art board meant to be used in any environment.
Simply move the board to change the canvas background. Place the board on white paper and the canvas is white. Move it to the grass and the canvas becomes grass. Place it on a tree and the canvas is bark. Hold it to the sky and watch the art soar through the clouds. Creative possibilities for a child’s creative mind!
Includes:
- 10 clear acrylic boards measuring 12 inches wide by 9.25 inches tall
- 10 Mini Magnifiers
ECERS: 18. Art, 22. Nature & Science
Art: Instantly create a background for works of art by placing the boards on a colorful placemat, layer of grass or leaves, a tray of smooth pebbles, a section of tree bark, a plate full of sand, a beautiful photograph or a child’s drawing. Washable mediums such as tempera paint, foam paint,clay, playdough, glass crayons, erasable colored pencils and water soluble glue can be used on the surface for children to create drawings, collages, paintings and sculptures. Simply remove the materials and submerge in soapy water to clean.
Block Play & Tabletop Construction: Use the boards as clear platforms within buildings and other structures that children create using interlocking blocks, loose parts and construction parts such as Kodo’s Table Towers.
Light Panel Play: Use Discovery Boards with Kodo’s Light Lab panel, Shelftop Light Panel or your own light table. Offer several boards along with other transparent or translucent manipulatives for construction and composition experiences using light as a material.
Pre-literacy: The clear nature of Discovery Boards makes them perfect for tracing activities. Place paper letters, number forms, words or shape cards under the boards. Children can trace the forms on the surface with their fingers or with a wipe-off tool such as Glass Crayons or your existing classroom wipe-off colored pencils. Some brands of dry erase markers will leave permanent stains so we don’t recommend using them. The Discovery Boards are sized perfectly to fit inside the frame of Kodo’s Shelftop Light Panel, adding light to your tracing experiences!
Science: Use the Discovery Boards and mini magnifiers as tools for examining natural materials such as feathers, snail shells, seashells, leaves and more. Even the occasional insect that wanders into your classroom or playground might sit or walk across the board for some close up observation. Children especially love to look at tiny creatures from below under the board as they carefully hold it up. Worms from the garden make for some interesting studies!
Q. How are the boards cleaned?
Submerge the boards and mini magnifiers in soapy water to wash and rinse well under the tap or with a garden hose. Wipe to dry. Do not use harsh chemicals on these materials.
Q. Doesn’t acrylic scratch?
Yes the surface will scratch over time due to general wear and tear caused by normal use. Scratches actually add a bit of variation and texture when paint or other mediums are applied to the surface. Children don’t mind them at all.
From the Kodo Education Team: Check out our post called Artistic Creativity in Full Bloom on the Kodo Community to see how discovery boards were used to press flowers for display!
