DIY Glow in the Dark Stars and Other Fun Shapes

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One of the highlights of my kids’ bedtime routine is glowing the glow in the dark stars above their heads. We bought a special UV flashlight just to be able to glow them brighter and longer. The other day they made little Lazarus rocks in Bible class that had glow in the dark eyes. When I asked them more about them, I learned that the eyes were made of glow in the dark glue. I immediately had a bunch of ideas on what I could make with glow in the dark glue and bought some.

The first thing I decided to make were my own version of glow in the dark stars for the kids. To make them into lots of fun shapes, I used a similar method to the glue window clings we made last summer. I chose shapes of things that they enjoy.

How to Make Glow in the Dark Stars or Other Shapes

Materials:

• Glow in the dark glue
• Cling wrap, wax paper, or any sort of clear plastic
• Scissors
• Sticky tack

Making the Glow in the Dark Shapes:

Before starting, you need to decide what shapes you are wanting to make. I went to Clip Safari and searched for silhouettes. Then, I downloaded all the pictures that I knew my kids would enjoy. Once you have your pictures, print them out. I printed mine at 3.5in x 5in, but they turned out kind of big.

Now that you have what you want to make, it’s time to begin. Tape down all of your printed pages and tape cling wrap over the top of them. You want your cling wrap to be as smooth and tight as possible. I found that taping one side of the cling wrap down and then unrolling it to the length I needed made this step a lot easier. You can also use wax paper or anything else that is clear and glue will come off of.

Finally, you can start gluing. Glue with your glow in the dark glue all over the picture until it is completely filled in. I glued around the outside first and then filled in the middle. While following the lines, error on the side of gluing too much instead of too little. You can also freehand shapes like I did with my alphabet letters. This glue seemed a lot harder to squeeze out than regular glue, so after just a few my hands were pretty tired. Because of this and running low on the glue, I didn’t do all the shapes that I printed out.

Finishing Up:

It’s time to give your hand a rest and wait until the glue fully dries. I let mine dry overnight, then I peeled off the shapes and let them dry for a bit longer upside-down. Once they dry, they will curl up. So, it’s time to be patient again and place them under something heavy until they stay flat.

Once they are finally dry and flat, you can touch them up. Using a pair of scissors, cut around the outside to fix any places the glue spread where you didn’t want it to.

Finally, it is time to put them up. You can use sticky tack to stick them to the ceiling or wall. Normal room light is enough to get them to glow, but shining a UV flashlight on them will make them glow brighter and longer.

Conclusion of Making Glow in the Dark Stars and Other Shapes

There are a lot of crafts I have enjoyed doing with and for my kids, but this has to be one of my favorites. I loved being able to make their favorite things and I think they turned out so good. Both kids immediately noticed them on their ceiling and kept asking if they were going to glow. They were so excited when they did glow that night. My 4 year old daughter was able to tell what all of her shapes were besides the elephant. My 2 year old son is still working on the vocabulary to be able to guess what his were, but he was just as excited.

If you like this idea, check out the window cling crafts that inspired it and more room decoration ideas. Let me know in the comments what shapes you make and how they turn out.