Glow Painting
I saw a post on Pinterest about glow-in-the-dark bubbles. Supposedly, if you break a glow stick into a container of bubbles, the bubbles that are blown will glow. This did not work for us. I don’t know if our bubbles were too cheap or if they were the wrong kind and didn’t mesh well with the glow stick liquid, but they wouldn’t blow at all, even after adding some soap. (In case the glow stick liquid watered it down too much.)
Lorelai was so disappointed, so I decided to perk her up a little by presenting a new activity: glow painting. I’m dubbing this one as original since I have yet to see it online – lol. I mixed a full glowstick with a little bit of paint and it worked okay for a few minutes, but the glow went out quickly. A straight-forward method is better:
Cut one end off of a glow stick and pour the liquid into a bowl. Use a small paintbrush to paint on paper. (LIGHTS OFF!) Don’t toss the glow stick – you can have your child stab the paper with the glowstick afterward to get any remaining liquid onto the paper. Lorelai loved creating her little “stars”.
Helpful hint: If you cut off both ends of the glowstick, the liquid will come out faster. Make sure to hold over the bowl while cutting!
Note: the glow doesn’t last too long, so forewarn your child. It’s a fun little activity, but like most, once it’s done… it’s done. EDIT: I stuck her painting in the freezer overnight and there was some glow left the next day!
Note2: most glow sticks are non-toxic, but can stain clothes. Prepare for that!
Have fun!
Heck yes! This is original and wonderful! I am so going to try this in my class this fall!! Love, love, love it!
Looks cool! Just beware the liquid can have glass in it from the capsules that the solution was in before bending the sticks. I found this out on a manufacturer page.
Oh no! Ours didn’t have any glass, thank goodness. That’s definitely something to look out for!
Thanks for the heads up!
There is actual glow-in-the-dark paint…the kind that can be charged by the sun or a light bulb. Some colors are sold at places like Ben Franklin’s, Joanne’s or Michael’s. But, I found those were limited, the best array of colors I have found were online at http://www.GloNation.com. Kind of pricey, but the best thing about them is that it’s the glow that keeps on glowing! Doesn’t fade quickly like glow sticks 🙂