The Glow-in-the-Dark Party

For Will's 8th birthday, he asked for a glow-in-the-dark party. It was wild.

I got many of my ideas from my dear friend, Kimmy, who had just posted about a glow-in-the-dark party for her son. Thank you, Kimmy!

The decorating was easy! I bought two florescent light fixtures at Home Depot and two black light bulbs. Each fixture/bulb cost me about $18. A white paper tablecloth. White streamers. White plates. White napkins. The black light works best with a lot of white. I bought tons of glow bracelets and glow sticks. I also bought some LED finger flashlights which the boys LOVED, but about half of them weren't working by the end of the party (very cheaply made).

Before... it looked so basic and blah...

Two bracelets taped together made perfect 8's for Will. I am positive that none of the boys noticed this detail.


The boys arrived just as the sun was setting. First stop: the dining room table to put on all their glow gear. Then the guys headed outside where they played capture the flag (glow stick) and "500" first with a glow-in-the-dark football (but the glow was not bright enough) then with a LED disc (they all loved that!). We had divided the boys into two teams based on the color of the glow stick/flashlight that they wore. I found these at Home Depot for $4 a piece. They used them all night and then took them home as their "party favor."

Inside for pizza and cake. I put glow sticks on the bottom of the snack bowls - neat effect. For their cups, I put glow bracelet inside a solid color cup then a 5 oz clear cup inside of the bigger cup, then filled it with blue gatorade. Their "glowing drinks" were a big hit.

After cake, the headed back outside for flashlight tag and general mayhem.

Whew. Maybe Peter will want a glow-in-the-dark party... otherwise I'm not so sure what to do with these black lights.