Glow in the dark rocks

When I started Mom Zu L’tovah I intended to share some of the fun and out of the box activities I would do with my son. Life took a turn and the site turned into more of a journal for me, but I’ve been thinking it’s time I’m ready to share my thoughts and ideas and also the fun things I like to do with my boys. 

I recently came across a podcast that featured the authors of Digging into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids. The podcast got me thinking how now that both my kids are in school for at least a part of the day, and now that the days are so short, there is so little time that we can be outside together. 

Looking out at the garden one day at midnight… I mean 5pm… I started thinking about what activities we could do in the early evening. I thought about how a few years ago I had Shmuel Yehuda paint rocks and then decorate the garden with them. 

Letting creativity shine

Immediately inspiration struck! What if I ordered a glow in the dark rock painting set and we painted them and then hid them in the garden to find them. I’ve ordered enough glow in the dark activities and toys by now to know that the glow is really faint unless you have a blacklight. So I went on Amazon and found a rock painting kit (used, too, so it was even cheaper!) and also bought two mini UV flashlights for about $5. 

I was actually so grateful for a rainy day last Monday so we had an opportunity to stay inside and paint the rocks. Both my eight and two year old were having so much fun painting the rocks, though probably not as much fun as me. I even came back to paint more after bedtime. I also used the glow paint to write secret messages on the sides of the rocks. Pro tip: Really go crazy with the glow paint – it glows just if you paint it on, but if dab it on and leave it the glow is way stronger. 

Glowing up the garden

The next day, both boys were so excited for it to get dark out and try out our new activity. We went outside and tested the rocks with the flashlights and honestly it totally exceeded my expectations. The rocks really glowed and the kids had so much fun hiding them for each other and finding them. We had an added challenge because there were tons of leaves so the rocks kept hiding from even the hider. 

Now that I saw that this was such a success, I went out to Home Depot to buy sealant to protect the rocks so we can reuse them. 

Next up, glow in the dark chalk! Both activities are fun for winter in general but these would also be fun for Chanukah time!