Fun Ways to Play and Learn with Glow Sticks

Are there activities you always have on hand just in case you need to come up with something quickly? I have a small stash of materials for those afternoons when we need something to overcome the crankies. There are always glow sticks in that stash. I grab them from time to time when we go to the Dollar Tree, and the girls are always excited to see a new batch of them set out for playtime.

So what do we do with them? Some days I just set them in the dark play room, and let the girls come up with their own ideas. Their imaginations take over and I hear them pretending the glow sticks are money, food, pet snakes…you name it!

Other days I give them ideas or we focus on a learning activity.

They create pictures like this caterpillar…

…and the butterfly it became.

We make shapes, and I sneak in an opportunity to talk about the characteristics of different shapes.

Some afternoons we make letters.

As we do so the girls are practicing letter recognition, letter formation, and often discussing letter sounds.

Do your kids enjoy playing with glow sticks? What other ways do they like to play and learn with them?

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