Our students love building structures on the light table. They use translucent blocks to add a new dimension to their creations. Translucent comes from a Latin word that means “to shine through.” It is an adjective  meaning: “allowing light, but not detailed shapes, to pass through; semitransparent” or less than completely transparent, but clear enough that some light can pass through.

However, in the English language we often use the term to describe a person’s character or communication when they are being open and free from “masks.”  One’s personality or character can be called “translucent” when they are speaking clearly about a personal issue.  Some dictionaries define translucent as a synonym of transparent. Nevertheless, when describing objects which are so clear that you can see through them, the word transparent is more appropriate because they are so clear you can see through them as if there really is nothing there. On the contrary, when something is translucent, it allows light through it with substantial diffusion.

The Apple Hill Academy daycare students are transparent in their love of this learning activity, and their happiness shines through as they construct different structures on the light table.