15 Ways To Play With Glow Sticks

Play with glow sticks year round with these fun, creative and family friendly activities! There are enough ideas here to do one per week in the summer.

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When I think about the things that remind me of summer, I can’t help but have glow sticks come to my mind.  What is it about glow sticks that make them so much fun?  Maybe it’s that they glow in the dark.  Or it could be that just wearing them makes you smile.  Whatever the case, I really don’t think you are ever too old to enjoy them with your family and friends, so today I’m sharing a round up of my favorite glow stick activities!

As you scroll through, you’ll find that many of these activities can be done both indoors and outdoors which makes it easy to enjoy glow in the dark glow stick fun year round! 

A word of caution: If you have little ones who like to put things in their mouth, please be careful.  The packaging says that adult supervision is recommended and that glow sticks are for ages 3+.

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15 Ways to Play with Glow Sticks

Glow in the Dark Bowling

Add a glow stick to a half full water bottle and set up the “pins”. For the ball, put glow sticks inside a hamster ball or buy a glow in the dark ball!

Glow in the Dark Wiffle Ball

Grab a pack of wiffle balls, a wiffle bat and some glow sticks and get ready for a fun nighttime glowing game.

Glowing Ring Toss

This game has such an easy set up! Just stick one of the thick glow sticks into the grass, break and connect your glow sticks and you’re ready to go.

Glow Stick Tic-Tac-Toe

Another easy game to set up is tic-tac-toe using glow sticks! This would be a great one to play while waiting for fireworks to start.

Glow Jars

These glow jars to so cool looking! Definitely have parent supervision for this one since you have to cut the glow sticks open and tap them into the jars to achieve this look. Check out the full post by clicking on the link below for all her tips.

Glow in the Dark Easter Eggs

While especially fun during Easter, you could do this activity any time of year using leftover plastic eggs. Outside when it’s warm and inside when it’s cold! This set of plastic eggs comes with mini glow sticks that fit right inside so there’s still room to stuff them with goodies.

Neon Notes

Who wouldn’t want a glow in the dark note to welcome them home? You could easily do this for any reason or season! Use clear tape to hold the glow sticks up and keep their shape.

Glow in the Dark Cups

This is a great way to liven up a party! I love that you can do this any time of year as well.

Glow Sticks in the Pool

Keep the fun going at your pool party by throwing some glow sticks in!  This would be fun to do in a kiddie pool as well on those hot summer nights (just keep a close eye out!).

Corn Hole

Tape glow sticks around the hole and at the sides, top and bottom so you can keep playing at night!

Red Light, Green Light

Remember this game as a kid?  Just grab a red and green glow stick and let the kids play this childhood favorite after it gets dark by having your child hold up the glow stick to indicate stop and go.

Dance Party

We’ve done this with our kids in the wintertime in our basement, but how fun would this be at your next BBQ or watching fireworks!

Freeze Tag 

Another favorite kid game!  Have your kids wear glow sticks around their necks, wrists and ankles so they can see each other and let the fun begin.

Capture the Flag

One team wears one color and the other team wears another so you know who’s who. This would be a great one for older kids!

Bath Time

Another fun activity you can do year round with your kiddos.  They’ll love playing with their glow sticks in the bath tub with the lights off!  (We’ve also done glow in the dark bath paint using a black light and it’s so much fun!)

What other activities have you done to play with glow sticks?