Let’s plan the ultimate end of the year glow party to send our kids off with the best memories of the year! It’s the end of the school year! Woo Hoo! We’re excited (and maybe a little sad) for the end of the year to finally be insight. Truthfully, we are more than exhausted, but we still want our students to have an end of the year party that they won’t soon forget. That’s where a Glow Party comes into play! So, let’s talk about a plan for the ultimate end of the year Glow Party!
Honestly, I was just going to do an Ice Cream Sunday party and call it a wrap! Right?! I am tired. My funds are low because of ALL of the end-of-the-year things that I’ve been buying! But, I did want my kids to have a memorable experience as our time together came to close. Full disclosure, our End of The Year Glow Party was not my original idea; it wasn’t even on my radar! LOL One of my teammates had this idea and I was like, “Sure, why not”. Let me tell you, I will be doing this again next year!
So, how can you host your very own ultimate. end of the year glow party? It’s easier than you think! Let’s plan it out. Note: It doesn’t have to be expensive at all! I’m sharing a list of items that we had at our ultimate end of the year glow party. Again, these items can likely be found locally for inexpensive amounts. I’ll share Amazon links that you can use for your convenience. These will be my Amazon Affiliate links, so please know that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from your purchase. You will not have to pay more for using my affiliate links. Thank you!
Here’s our list:
- glow in the dark necklaces
- glow in the dark bracelets
- Note: These links are the same for the necklaces and bracelets. Two sticks can be attached to make them long enough to wear as necklaces. Also, remember that these can be found at Dollar Tree for only a few dollars. But if you love the convenience of online shopping, please feel free to use my links.
- glow in the dark rings
- glow in the dark tubes
- black lights
- black light light bulbs. I was able to purchase 2 bulbs for less than $5.00/each at Walmart.
- lamps (A few desk lamps from home will work just fine.)
- dark paper to cover your windows and doors (black or navy blue). I used the butcher/large roll paper that they keep in our Media Center. Price- free! : )
- hanging neon or glow in the dark decor
- I had streamers hanging from the doorway as students entered.
- These garland streamers were hanging from the ceiling. You don’t need that many. We’re just creating a fun and unexpected environment for our sweet students!
- Decor Set
- Decor set with backdrop and balloons
My teammate also brought in neon paints for face painting. I found this set of Glow Paints for you.
Getting Ready for Your Fabulous, Ultimate End Of The Year Glow Party
Prep Everything the Night Before
- Cover the windows (if you have them) and your class door with dark colored paper.
- You may want. to let your Admin. know that you are doing this and the reason why. At our school, classroom doors (the glass portion) have to unobstructed at all times.
- Put your desks/tables together to create large spaces.
- Cover your tables with white paper. Place colorful highlighters on the tables so that your students can leave glow in the dark messages on the tables.
- Hang your neon/glow streamers outside of your classroom door. I taped the streamers from the top of the door with clear tape. You will just need to close the door gently each time.
- You may want to take any other decorations off of your door to spotlight your glow in the dark streamers. LOL
- Hang the garland streamers from the ceiling.
- If you purchased black light tape, laying along the walls/side of the room.
- Put your black lights out around the room. I just purchased two black lightbulbs from Walmart and brought in two lamps from home. I put one light in the back of the room and one in the very front of the room.
- Take your necklaces and bracelets (and any other items that you have) out of the packages and place them out on the tables. I organized mine in sets so that my students could easily get a set of items quickly.
- Place the glow tubes on a separate table. This adds to the decor and also gives students space to select the color that they want with ease.
- Display or set up any backdrops or other decorations.
- Find a Kids Bop video with current songs. Here is the one that I used with my kids. Please be sure to listen through it to make sure that it’s safe and appropriate for your students before you use it with your class.
Go to Work Early to Prep for Your Ultimate End of the Year Glow Party
Let me offer this advice, please come to school at least 30 minutes early! LOL I came to school on time, but not early. Well, when I walked into the room I saw that the paper that my teammate had taped up for me the night before was coming down! NOOOO. So, me, after the bell rang scrambling around trying to re-tape the tape. Mind you, I have the door locked because this was a total surprise. I asked my families not to tell their children about the party because I wanted it to be extra special for them. Now, I am sweating and trying to get all the things done so that I can let them in. They were in the hall for 10 minutes after the bell rang! I’m so glad that my teammates were sweet enough not to complain and to watch my kids for me.
Let Them In!
Finally! I got myself together-sweat beads on my brow and all. I open the door and then block the entry way. If you are planning to come in today and have a great time, you better know the secret password. My kids were like, “what?”. I had never done this before and you could tell that they were trying to figure out if I was joking or serious. How fun! So, what was the magic password phrase? It’s the last day of school!
Now, you can decide what’s best for you. I had all of the lights on when my kids came in. They were allowed to oooh and aaaah, but they couldn’t ask me any of my secrets and they couldn’t touch anything. After our morning announcements, I let them in on the surprise. During this time, I shared what today was all about and told them that I wanted our last day together to be extra special. Ground rules, directions, and information was shared. I called them one at a time to pick out the necklaces, bracelets, ring, and glow tube that they wanted.
Then, I turned of all of the lights, blasted the Kids Bop playlist, and let the festivities begin! On the flip-side, my teammates had the lights off when students entered and began the festivities right away. We danced until Specials (so, for about 40 minutes) and ended that special time. I don’t know if they had a. better time or if I did!
There was a lot of prep work that went into setting up our ultimate end of the year glow party, but I would do it all over again! So many memories were made and I know that we said “I love you. This was an amazing year” with our final dance. Our hearts were definitely full and aglow.
If you plan your own ultimate end of the year glow party, please leave a comment to let me know how it went!
