Oh, the family fun you can create with a few glow products: games, costumes, decor, entertainment and more!
Over the last five years we have had a rather large GLOW NIGHT event at our Awana Club. (Which is a childrens ministry) Our club typically has 200-400 kids who attend every Wednesday night. This is our BIG outreach event where everyone is encouraged to bring a friend. The kids always have such a GLOWTASTIC blast! It is definitely one of the highlights of the year.
Whether you are looking to create a simple family fun night, or a large party for the masses, these ideas can be incorporated to bring some serious glow fun!
Getting GLOW in the atmosphere is easy-peasy. Water bottles (water still in) and glow sticks make a very simple and inexpensive glow light that can be used for decor, or as boundary markers, game pieces, cones, etc. They would also make great bowling pins. The other items in the photo above are upside down glow in the dark dessert bowls. (see below) In addition to decor these could be used for a ball tossing game, with a glow in the dark bouncy ball.
{source: windy city novelties}
They also have straws, cups and other items available for tableware.
These are probably my VERY MOST favorite glow products that I know of. GLOW CIRCLES. They have a peel n' stick bottom. They come in several colors. They typically run between .50 - 1.00 a piece. Typically the more you purchase the cheaper you can get them. These have a great glow to them, not to mention the endless ways they can be used: name badges, making glow in the dark words, creating game areas & marking boundaries, establishing a finish line, and so much more.
{source: windy city novelties}
We use these to outline our Awana Game Circles. It is so simple, pop the glow tube in the disk, shake, peel the back off and stick them down on the proper color quadrant. Each quarter of the circle is then glowing in the proper Awana color: Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.
To create team color pins we use 2 liter soda bottles filled with water and drop in 2 coordinating colored glow sticks. These are then used as their team pin on the circle. We also use a water bottle {smaller bottle than the 2 liter) with one glow stick for the winning team pin in the center square and a 2 liter filled with all four of the teams color in it to replace the orange pin placed in the very center of the circle. For those of you who don't know Awana Games don't even try to wrap your brain around what I just explained. Haha. It is almost a foreign language until you play a game.
Family Glow Game Ideas:
Bowling
Relay Races
{Source: Glow Products}
Glow Golf, Soccer, Badminton, Football, Volleyball
For relay batons we use Foam LED Lumiton products. They are really inexpensive and are really durable.They have an on / off button. We have used the same ones annually for the last 3 or 4 years. We had a few die last year - so we re-stocked this year. They run about a $1 a piece now - so super cheap.
{source: windy city novelties}
You can find all sorts of glow costume gear online now- from mohawks to tube wigs, glasses to shoelaces. The list increases daily. It can be a bit shocking what can show up in a glow google search - so if kiddos are looking, you may want to find the safe sites for them first. Eek.
We used EL Wire (see example below) and clear packing tape to create our glow over our black hoodies and pants. We were able to purchase our EL Wire at a pretty low cost - check around before you buy, AND make sure you are comparing the same items, they come in many lengths and color options.
{source: glowsource}
For our glow dance outfits we each used 2- 12' lengths. It ended up being WAY cheaper than buying one 20' long el wire. Like I mentioned earlier, make sure and check around for prices, you just never know.
Our family had so much fun performing this dance video. With more time for planning we could have made it a bit more complicated - although we think it turned out pretty darn cute. Our little guy was center stage and he will be the first to tell you he has stage fright. As you can imagine this stretched his comfort level a bit.
My hubby was the guy in all black (you'll see him when those stinkers in the crowd shine their lights on the stage in the middle of the song). The all black outfit kept him hidden most of the time so as he was flipping Nate around in the air it appeared as if he was floating. Now you see why we needed our little guy to be the center stage performer...am I right?
The song we used was a zippy re-make of "This little light of mine" by Rapture Ruckus. We thought it spoke the exact we were trying to encourage share with the kids. SHINE bright out there - be a light in the dark. People are attracted to light - they find it beautifully captivating.
I know I would love to be found beautifully captivating to others. You know that kind of captivating that isn't prideful, or shallow, but that deep, rich, safe harbor type of captivating. Not me, myself, but Jesus in me shining for others to see. I am also learning I already am beautifully captivating to my Abba Father - no matter how good I am at allowing his light to shine in all the areas of my life. He delights in me. I need to work on living that out and letting it shine.
"Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful." -2 Corinth. 4:5-6
-Simply Sublime
