I hosted a kid’s glow party at the library. They loved it! It got a bit wild at the end because they were so excited, and there are some things I will do differently next time.
The Supplies:
- 3 black-lights (available online or at party stores)
- large bag of glow stick necklaces
- flashing light toys
- highlighters and paper
- glow stick beachball
- reflective ribbon or tape (try a hardware store)
- neon paper
- food, drink (doesn’t have to glow)
- plates, cups, napkins
- bluetooth speaker disco ball and iPhone
Since we had the event at 1 PM, we had to make sure the room was fully dark. We used heavy duty black garbage bags on the windows. This won’t matter as much if it’s night time or you have a room without outside light. I put up the black lights on 3 of the four walls of the large conference room (you might not need as many in a smaller room). I set up the room with lots of space to move, and marked lines around the furniture in reflective ribbon to help people navigate. I decorated with neon paper cut into different shapes, and set up a station under one of the lights with a pile of paper and highlighters.
One blog I researched suggested getting a blacklight flashlight before anything else, and using it to see what is reactive when buying supplies- I will definitely do that next time- the bright yellow balloons I bought didn’t show up at all! The beachball thing was cute- it has a chamber to hold a glow-stick so it can be re-used. The kids played four-square with a grid made of reflective tape and the glow ball. They also wrote and drew pictures with the highlighters and danced to the music. We were supposed to have a science teacher come to do a glow-related craft, but she never showed up. Some other activity ideas would be face painting, decorating shirts or bags, and making glitter jars. The kids suggested having a tent or box to hide in.
When putting out food or prizes, keep some aside for latecomers, things can vanish quickly. I had a bag of 50 glow sticks, and they were gone in an hour, though we only had 20 kids. Try to discourage running or hitting each other with glow sticks. Set up areas to spin glow stick necklaces where they are out of the path of other party-goers. Let parents know they don’t have to sit in if they don’t want to, and have at least one other helper to direct traffic, help tie necklaces and keep an eye on the food. It’s easy to let the kids know the party is over-just turn on the lights! (A little warning would be nice, of course.)
