Get ready for an epic celebration as you say goodbye to the school year with an amazing Glow Day! Transform your classroom by turning off the lights and getting ready to shine (literally and figuratively) while showing what you know with these Glow Day activities! Review important math and literacy skills with glow-in-the-dark theme centers, plus a super fun glow stick science experiment. It’s the perfect way to keep the learning excitement going until the very last day of school!

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Glow Day Set Up

Glow Day Prep

To set the stage, I like to transform the classroom the morning of our party or the day before. This way when the students walk in, it is already time to party!

You can simply turn off the lights and shut the blinds, or you can cover your windows with black butcher paper or black garbage bags to really eliminate any additional light.

I also print this giant glow day banner on neon colored card stock and hang it at the front of our classroom. You can pick from one of three glow day banners, “Let’s Glow!,” “Glow Day!,” or “It’s Time to Shine!”

Amazon Shopping List

To make these Glow Day activities extra special, I recommend buying a few bonus items. While these are not a must, they sure make the day “glow” with excitement!

A week or two before our Glow Day party, I send out an email to families with our Glow Day Amazon shopping list.

If anything, you will want to make sure you have a few LED blacklights and a classroom set of yellow highlighters, since these are the main items needed to transform your classroom. I used one blacklight at each center.

On a sidenote, I was really intentional about creating activities that would not require an added expense. Almost all of these activities/centers use common classroom supplies.

You can find the full list of Glow Day supplies and how I used them for our Glow Day classroom transformation in this blog post!

Editable Invitations

What party is a party without a formal invite?! Edit the date, time, and location on these editable invitations. Print them on neon colored paper and cut them in half. Then, send them home with your students prior to the party.

Reminder Bracelets

The day before the party, I like to print these reminder bracelets on neon colored paper and then wrap them around the students’ wrists, securing with tape, so they remember to wear neon or white the next day.

Gift Tags

Since I love a good DIY gift, I give my students glow bracelets at the end of our Glow Day party. I just print these gift tags, punch a hole at the top and bottom, and then thread the glow bracelet through the holes.

These tags can also be added to a glow necklace or any other type of glow-in-the-dark item.

Editable Certificates

I also prep these editable certificates ahead of time by changing out the names and date and printing them on neon colored card stock.

Glow Day Center Prep

Once the classroom is transformed, it’s time to prep the Glow Day activities for our center rotations. There are eight literacy stations and eight math stations.

For each station, I create a tub that includes the station name and all the necessary materials and printables for each center.

I also prep a Glow Day folder for each student which will house all of their completed Glow Day activities. I like to use a manila folder, but regular folders or pieces of construction paper folded in half also work well.

Glow Day Literacy Activities

There are eight Glow Day literacy stations included. Here is a sneak peek at all of the literacy Glow Day activities, including the targeted skills.

CVC Glow Words

The students will use play dough to build a variety of CVC words. For an additional glowing effect, use neon colored play dough.

Glow Words

The students will twist the cup to form words from each word family.

Glow Letters

This “Glow Letters” center is a great way for students to practice letter formation. The students will roll a die and trace a letter using a highlighter.

Glowing Digraphs

To work on digraphs, the students will segment each CCVC word and then use a highlighter to write each word. Pair an invisible pen with this activity and use it as a write the room station or table top center.

Bright Blends

This is a great activity for working on beginning blends. To complete this activity, the students will sort the pictures by beginning r blend.

Glowing Sentences

With “Glowing Sentences,” the students will use a highlighter to correct the capitalization, spacing, punctuation, and spelling errors in each sentence.

Alphabet Builder

With a variety of different colored glow bracelets, the students will build each letter of the alphabet. They can use the alphabet cards as guides, as they build both upper and lowercase letters.

Word Builder

Keep those glow bracelets handy for this “Word Builder” activity, where the students build a variety of different words.

Glow Day Math Activities

There are also eight math Glow Day activities! Here is a quick look at the Glow Day math centers.

Glow Away Pins

To practice decomposing ten, the students will roll a ball and complete the subtraction equation.

Glow in Order

At this station, the students will sequence the numbers from 1-100. This activity can be used as a pocket chart, table top, or floor center.

Math Dice Games

There are four math dice games included. For these activities, students will need a highlighter. For an additional glowing effect, you can also use blacklight or glow in the dark dice.

Roll and Add 1

For this addition activity, the students will roll a die and add one to the number they rolled. Then, they will use a highlighter to complete the equation.

Roll and Subtract 1

Instead of adding one, students will roll a die and subtract one from the number they rolled with this “Roll and Subtract 1” activity.

Glowing Addition

For a more complex addition activity, the students roll two dice and add the numbers together.

Roll and Count

To practice counting on, the students will roll a die and count on from the number they rolled using a highlighter to write the numbers.

Math Card Games

In order to complete these math card games, you will want to print this set of cards on neon colored card stock. For added durability, I like to laminate the cards.

Flip and Add 1

For the first card game, the students will flip a card and add one to the number.

Flip and Subtract 1

To work on subtraction, they will flip a card and subtract one from the number.

Flip and Add

Another great addition activity is this “Flip and Add” card game, where the students flip two cards and add the numbers together.

Flip and Compare

The last math card game requires the students to flip two cards and compare the numbers.

Bright Teens

This is a super fun way to work on teen numbers. The students will count the base ten blocks as ten and some more, and then find the matching teen number to complete the pair of sunglasses.

Glow Numbers

Similar to “Glow Letters,” the students will practice number formation by spinning the spinner and tracing the number with a highlighter.

Shape Builder

Similar to the “Alphabet Builder” center, the students will build a mix of 2D shapes out of glow bracelets.

Glow Graph

For this final math station, the students will sort glow sticks by color, and then graph how many of each color.

Glow Day Science Experiment

The math and literacy activities are tons of fun, but who doesn’t love a science experiment?!

For this “Let’s Glow” experiment, place a glow stick in ice cold water, room temperature water, and very hot water for five minutes.

Students will make a hypothesis and then draw their observation based on what happens in the different temperatures of water.

More End of Year Activities

Countdown to the end of the year with these ABC countdown ideas!

Throw an Ice Cream Day party with these ice cream themed centers!

Your students might also enjoy these Beach Day activities!

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