Glow Day Classroom Transformation: 5 Must-Haves
Bring out your black lights, glow sticks, glow necklaces, and glow bracelets—we're going to have an epic glow party week!
Glow days at the end of the school year can be a great way to keep kids engaged and learning until the very end. Plus, teachers can actually get some work done at work! Can I get an amen?!
So, Let's start with what you will need for this glow day classroom transformation.
5 Must-Haves for Glow Day Classroom Transformation
Glow Day Activities
First things first. Let's start with some glow-day activities that will surely excite your kids while engaging them in academics and fun until the very last bell rings. The following activities can work at any grade level, but they are best for early elementary students focusing on first and second grade. I have a glow-day resource available for you on TpT. You can click here for the week-long unit. You can also use these activities for station ideas or glow day stations.
Let's start with a fun way to kick things off! A glow day reader's theater. You can have kids practice in small groups or as a whole class. The choice is yours. Here is a FREE fun glow day reader's theater.
Literacy Skills (Reading and Writing)
Make practicing literacy skills more fun with invisible ink pens. Most invisible ink pens come with a black light on the cap so everyone can read the writing. I also love to print activities like book recommendations or glow day funky tales on neon paper to bring out the glow. You can also use neon tape to hang papers on the wall. So fun!
Here are a few activities that are included inside of my Glow Days unit:
Reading Activities:
🪩 Day 1: Welcome to Glow Day Reader’s Theater
🪩 Day 2: Glowing Book Recommendations
🪩 Day 3: Glowing Book Commercial Writing
🪩 Day 4: Glowig Book Commercial Presentations
🪩 Day 5: Glow In The Dark Flash Light Reading
Writing Activities:
🪩 Day 1: A Year of Glowing Favorites
🪩 Day 2: Glowing Tales (You can do a close reading with this tale or allow students to work on this in pairs.)
🪩 Day 3: Glowing Letter to Next Year’s Teacher (Glow Letters)
🪩 Day 4: Glow in the Dark Memory Book
🪩 Day 5: Continue Day 4
Math Skills (Addition, Subtraction, and Graphing)
Playing various games to practice math is not only fun, but it is also helpful for 1st grade math and 2nd-grade math. Glow Days unit contains math practice for partners and some independent work, as well. Games are an easy way to cover skills while offering a good time for all.
Here are a few math activities that are included in my Glow Days unit:
🪩 Day 1: Glow in the Dark Word Problems
🪩 Day 2: Glow Adding and Subtracting
🪩 Day 3: Game Day Lights Out
🪩 Day 4: Math and Science Glow Bubbles
🪩 Day 5: Glow Number Top-It
If you want to spend the entire day glowing, why not add some science and social studies to the mix?
Science and Social Studies
Starting with a glow stick science experiment or engineering challenge is a great way to integrate science into your glow day. All you need are glow sticks, glow masking tape, and or glow dough. Then, challenge your little engineering to build the highest glowing tower. You can even have kids work through the engineering design process. (Ask, imagine, plan, create, test, revise, and reflect.)
Here are a few science and social studies activities that are included in my Glow Days unit:
🪩 Day of Science & Engineering: Glow Stick Tower
🪩 Day of Social Studies: Glow T-Shirt
🪩 Day of Social Studies: Glow Maps
🪩 Day Science: Glow in the Dark Bubbles
🪩 Day of Social Studies: Reflecting and Goal-Setting
Finding glow activities can take so much time, but I've made it easy for you. Click here for the entire week-long glow days unit.
2. Black Butcher Paper
Now that you have your activities ready to go, let's talk about making a total room transformation. From our plain ole classroom to a glow day room transformation!
Don't worry—you don't need blacklight paint. Keep it simple. Snag some black butcher paper from the teacher's lounge and cover up those windows. (I had a class without windows for 14 years! This would have been awesome for glow days!
You can always use black garbage bags, too, if needed. I think the butcher paper will work better.
3. Supply List and Letter Home for Donations
Before we go further, I want you to know that families can donate all the supplies. I have included letters home in my Glow Days Unit. So don't worry—I've got your back.
Here is a list of things that are helpful and or needed for Glow Days in the classroom:
* This list contains affiliate links in this blog post, which means I get a tiny commission if you choose to purchase through these links. However, this doesn't change the cost for you. Thank you in advance!
Black Lights (This contains 2 in a set. You may need four total.)
Flashlights (You can use this instead, or you may want this during reader's theater)
Glow in the Dark Balloons (really transforms the room)
Neon Paper (Optional, but really cool. You need to cut it at the bottom. It's larger than the average page size. But the strips make great wrist bands!)
Glow in the Dark Pens with magic write (30 pack)
Dark Tape (Optional, or you may need it for the glow stick tower)
Dark Dice (glow in the dark) (need this for addition top-it)
Glow Dough (this is a very small amount)
Glow Bubbles (2 pack- you will need more)
Glow straws(24 pack- could use these to build towers, too.)
Neon fabric markers (these go fast) (you need these for t-shirt creation day)
Glow pets (could use for Lights Out math game)
4. Things Glow in the Classroom
All items above can glow, but remember that white glow too! Some other glow items might be jello with half tonic water used and lemonade with tonic water! Then you have glowing food and drinks. So much fun!
5. Black Lights and or Flashlights
I personally think black lights are so much more fun than flashlights, but either one will work. Black lights are an investment and can tend to get hot, but they have such a cool effect on the room, so they are something to consider.
Let the glow games and glow day party begin!