10 Glow Stick Party Games

By
Christine Gauvreau
Christine Gauvreau

Christine Gauvreau is an event planning expert with over 10 years of professional party planning experience. She co-founded an event planning business that specializes in kids' parties. She has written for The Spruce on topics related to children's parties for almost five years.

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Updated on 12/16/20

The Spruce / Colleen Tighe

There's something irresistible about glow sticks for kids—give them a glow stick, and they'll be entertained for hours. If you're looking for budget-friendly activities for your child's next party, try out one of these glow stick games. The only things that will glow brighter than the stick are the smiles on the kids' faces.

  • 01 of 10

    Glow-in-the-Dark Ring Toss

    Ring toss game at nighttime.
    Christine Gauvreau

    Many varieties of glow sticks are flexible, so they can be curved and joined with another glow stick to form a circle. Use those luminous circles as the throwing implements for a classic game of ring toss. Push a 12-inch glow stick that into the ground to serve as the target, and then make a line with masking tape on the ground a few feet away. Have the party guests stand behind the line and toss the glow stick rings at the target.

  • 02 of 10

    Glow Golf

    Create a mini-golf course using glow sticks staked in the ground as "holes." Bend the glow sticks to form arches that kids have to get the ball through, or place them side-by-side with enough space for kids to putt the ball between. Make glow-in-the-dark golf balls by painting them with neon paint, and wrap the golf clubs with glow bracelets.

  • 03 of 10

    Glow Bowling

    Set up a game of lawn bowling with empty plastic bottles serving as the pins. Insert a glow stick into each bottle before setting them up, and then create a bowling lane out of glow sticks either staked in or placed down flat on the ground to form the sides. Use a brightly colored, large rubber ball as the bowling ball. If it is not brightly colored enough for a game being played at night, you can also paint it with glow paint before your party.

  • 04 of 10

    Glow Stick Scavenger Hunt

    Just before it gets dark, activate and hide several colors of glow sticks around the party space. Divide players into as many teams as you have colors, and assign a color to each team. Give each team member one colored glow bracelet to begin. When it gets dark, set a timer and send them off to gather as many of their color of glow sticks as they can find. When time is up, count how many glow sticks each team collected. The one with the most wins.

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  • 05 of 10

    Tic-Tac-Glow

    Arrange glow sticks flat on the ground to form a tic-tac-toe board. Shape additional glow sticks to form three Xs and three Os. Kids take turns placing their Xs and Os, just like in the traditional game of tic-tac-toe.

  • 06 of 10

    Neon Lawn Art

    The lawn is just a large, blank canvas waiting to be decorated with glow sticks. Think sidewalk chalk drawings, only instead of chalk, kids use glow sticks to create designs, patterns, messages, and figures. They can write words or bend and arrange the sticks to make creatures, people, or structures. Use glow sticks to form a frame around each child’s individual workspace or let them all work together to create one, big work of art.

  • 07 of 10

    Glowing Hopscotch

    Arrange a bunch of glow sticks on the ground to form a hopscotch board. Instead of a rock or bean bag, kids can toss a glow bracelet and jump through the squares to retrieve it according to the rules of hopscotch.

  • 08 of 10

    Free Throw Glow

    Link together enough glow sticks to form a circle the size of a basketball hoop. Place a glow stick inside of a balloon and inflate it. Hang the hoop at a reasonable height for kids to be able to get the balloon through and have them play a few rounds of free-throw hoops.

    Continue to 9 of 10 below.
  • 09 of 10

    Glow Hoop Volley

    Use glow sticks to form a ring the size of a hula hoop. Hang the hoop from a tree branch. Place a glow stick inside of a balloon and inflate it. Have one guest stand on either side of the hula hoop. They must keep volleying the balloon through the hoop. Once it falls, it is time for another two players to try.

  • 10 of 10

    Glow-in-the-Dark Bubbles

    Use brightly colored paint in this colored soap bubble recipe to make a glowing bubble soap mixture. Have kids form glow sticks into different shapes of bubble wands. Use them to simply blow glow-in-the-dark bubbles or to play some of these fun bubble party games.