Classroom transformations are such a powerful way to get our students excited about learning. Glow Day is no exception to this! Glow Games might just be my favorite classroom transformation. Let me tell you all about our Glow in the Dark activities!
I wanted to create games that allowed my students review important learning from the year. The students answered questions or completed activities that provided practice of first grade content. Each station had a glow game – glow in the dark activity that provided great end of the year review.
You can go big or small when doing Glow Day. I tried to stay cost effective and got a lot of donations. You really don’t need anything other than the black lights, highlighters, glow tape, and glow sticks. You can cover the windows with two layers of black paper or a black garbage bag if you don’t want to use a flannel backed table cloth. I used two layers of black bulletin board paper that my school supplies so that was free =)
I also put black paper on my lights to block out lights that are always on. I made sure it hung down a bit so it was about 4 inches away from the bulbs and secured the paper with magnets.
I used two black lights, a disco light and a black light strip. You can find them on my Glow Day Amazon List. These are affiliate links but you don’t have to use them. Affiliate links mean I get a few cents when you buy from my Amazon page. I use my Amazon Influencer page to organize items that I buy regularly.
I used about 300 glow sticks and 100 glow necklaces. Most of them were donated by parents from Dollar Tree.
Before “Glow Day,” I sent a note home asking students to wear white or neon so they glowed, too.
Let’s break down the stations – Glow Games – we had for Glow Day
We rotated through four centers in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. I had parent volunteer man these stations.
Each rotation lasted 15-20 minutes including clean up and transitions. However, the rotation time can be adjusted as needed.
Glow Day Sight Words – This is a scoot activity where students found a sight word card with one letter missing. They wrote the word with the missing letter on their recording sheets in highlighter.
I had various color highlighters but yellow glowed the best. When they found all 30 words and wrote them correctly, they got to build the words they found with glow sticks. These come editable in my Glow Day Bundle so you can choose which words you would like students to focus on. You can also make it differentiated with the editable feature.
I had various color highlighters but yellow glowed the best. When they found all 30 words and wrote them correctly, they got to build the words they found with glow sticks. These come editable in my Glow Day Bundle so you can choose which words you would like students to focus on. You can also make it differentiated with the editable feature.
Glow Day Ring Toss – This is a projectable powerpoint where two teams battle each other practicing math facts. There are switch slides where players must switch teams before answering a question to make the game more exciting. Once someone calls out the correct answer, they get to through a glow ring around the bottles for points. This is also editable so you can choose what facts you want students to practice. You can make it math or literacy to individualize.
Glow Day Bowling – Students choose a card and read it out loud. Then, they tell which punctuation mark goes at the end of the sentence. If they are correct, they get to bowl. You can differentiate by reading the sentence or creating your own sentences in the editable version.
Glow Day Jenga – Students pick a card and answer it. If they are right, they must take out a block of the corresponding color to the card. I put glow tape on the edges of my Jenga
blocks to make it easier to see in the black light. This is also editable so you can differentiate cards or make your own.
blocks to make it easier to see in the black light. This is also editable so you can differentiate cards or make your own.
Glow Day Geometry – This was a scoot activity where students found a card around the room. They drew the shape on their recording sheets in highlighter. Once they found all 16 cards and wrote them correctly, they got to build the shapes they found with glow sticks. These come editable in my GlowDay Bundle so you can choose what skills you would like students to focus on. You can also make it differentiated
with the editable feature.
with the editable feature.
Glow Day Cards – I purchased glow in the dark cards where students played Top-it. All you do is split the deck in half and give each player half. They keep the cards upside down in a pile. Then, each player turns over one card. The player with the higher number keeps both cards. If the cards are the same, they turn another card over. The player with the most cards at the end, wins.
Glow Day Cup Stack – I bought glow in the dark cups for this fun STEM activity. We measured our cup towers to see who built the tallest when the day was done.
Glow Day Tic Tac Toe – I made a tic tac toe boards out of glow tape. Players used glow necklaces for the Os and two glow sticks for the Xs. This strategy game is always a lot of fun.
Throughout the day, my first graders kept saying this was the best day ever. They were perfectly behaved and engaged all
day long! This made the work I put into this day so worth it.
day long! This made the work I put into this day so worth it.
If you want to give Glow Day a try, check out my bundle. It provides everything you need to have the best day EVER.
I just love room transformations! Did you read my blog post about Reading Restaurant? That was another great room transformation! Check it out here.
If you have done Glow Day in your room, please comment below with your favorite part! I can’t wait to hear from you!
If you have done Glow Day in your room, please comment below with your favorite part! I can’t wait to hear from you!
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