How To Make Glow-in-the-Dark Paint With Your Kids

Homeschooling your kids is a great decision, but it also means that you have to act as a teacher and an entertainer throughout the day. While there’s plenty of school material to keep your kids busy, learning about the world is about more than school subjects.

Sometimes you need a fun craft or an interesting side project to remind both you and your kids that learning is fun. One such craft is making glow-in-the-dark paint together. If you’ve never heard of this phenomenon, that’s OK. It’s easy to create! Keep reading to learn how to make glow-in-the-dark paint with your kids.

Gather Your Supplies

Glow-in-the-dark paint is an easy project that you and your kids can do in one afternoon—although they’ll probably want to do it again and again. Luckily, you need only a handful of supplies, and if you have somewhere safe to store them, you can make this cool craft whenever you want.

• Protective cloth or paper for your work surface
• Protective clothes for child(ren) (optional)
• Glow-in-the-dark pigment powder (ideally safe and non-toxic)
• Paint (either acrylic or water-based)
• Small containers (as many containers as paint colors)
• Popsicle sticks or a similar type of stirring device
• Measuring spoons (as many as paint colors)

Make Your Paint

Once you have your supplies assembled, you can get started. Lay down an old tablecloth, newspaper, or something else to protect your work surface, dress young children in protective clothing to prevent paint stains, and start measuring.

The exact ratio of powder to paint is 1:2. So for every two tablespoons of paint, you’ll need one tablespoon of glow-in-the-dark pigment powder. You can mix multiple colors in multiple containers or make one. It’s best to try to use pigment powder that is similar in color to the paint you’re using. While you can use white paint and allow the powder to create the color, you’ll have a better, more concentrated shade with colored paints.

Pour your tablespoons of paint and an adequate amount of pigment powder into each of your small containers. Mix thoroughly and then set the container under some form of light, ideally natural light, so that the powder can “charge” enough to glow. Charging should take only a few minutes and give results that last hours. Once you charge the paint, dip your paintbrush in and start painting!

Project Ideas

You can use glow-in-the-dark paint in various paint projects, from a simple canvas to painting custom shoes. Your choice of project will depend on the age and ability of your child and what supplies you want to use. Younger children will probably find it easier to paint on paper or another type of flat surface, while older children will enjoy more complicated projects, like the shoes we mentioned. The choice is yours.

Making glow-in-the-dark paint with your kids is a fun and easy project. You can use this craft as an art lesson, science lesson, or just for fun. And most of these supplies can last a long time, so you and your family can return to this project again and again for hours of fun.