All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Glow? 14  Glow Party Ideas to Ignite the Night

Play with light at your next celebration.

Mix softly glowing neon hues with cheerfully blinking LED lights for a dazzling display of radiance wherever you turn. A glow party is the latest craze for kids that is just as fun for adults. Perfect as a theme for a birthday or New Year's Eve celebration, ordinary lights fade to black as the room comes alive with with the illumination of a dozen rainbow hues. Add a black light to make ordinary whites fluoresce an electric blue hue and pair your outfit with twinkling LED jewelry and accessories. You can dance the night away under a glittering disco ball or create a laser light spectacle of flashing hues as a dramatic backdrop for your dance floor.

While immersing yourself in the beautiful spectacle of a black light is fun all on its own, there are plenty of ideas for unique games to play at a glow in the dark party:

1. Make a ring toss game using glow sticks as the pole and bracelets for the rings.

2. Play capture the flag with matching glowing accessories for each team.

3. Place light-up toys inside of inflated balloons for an illuminated treasure hunt.

4. Add light-up beach balls to your pool party for an illuminated game of water volleyball.

5. Instead of going the route of traditional party favors where guests are handed a bag of treats and toys as they leave, set up a table as a glow bar with trays that are filled with fun light-up accessories like hats, sunglasses, headbands, bracelets, rings and masks so guests can pick and choose their favorite items to embellish their party outfit.

6. If your celebration includes presents, pick light-up gift bows as the finishing touch to your package decoration.

All of your party decorations can get in on the luminous fun as well.

7. Glowing drinkware, light-up coasters and two-inch glow sticks scattered across the length of a table bring place settings alive.

8. Festoon the walls with a curtain of LED lights that you can use as an illuminated backdrop for photos.

9. Add strings of disco mirror balls interspersed with lights across the room to create a dance floor or to bring extra drama to the space.

10. You can even fill empty wine or drink bottles with a string of LED lights attached to a cork-shaped battery pack for a sophisticated decoration at a bridal shower or New Year's celebration.

11. Finish each table with fiber optic centerpieces or create your own out of glow sticks by placing one end of the sticks into a styrofoam ball until the surface is covered.

12. Place tealight candles with flickering, battery powered flames on windowsills or along the center of a table.

13. Use color changing spheres as a crystal ball prop for a Halloween party or as an eye-catching centerpiece.

14. Even the food can be part of the decorations using edible glitters that glow in the dark or ingredients that naturally fluoresce under a black light, like tonic water.

Endless Ideas

There are endless ideas for incorporating a glow in the dark party into holidays or personal celebrations. Create an unforgettable birthday or Halloween blowout that will have the kids talking for years. A luau, retirement, Bar Mitzvah, New Year's Eve, pool party or sleepover will stand out from the rest with the illumination of a thousand lights. If you've got a bride or groom-to-be, drop the lights for a glowing celebration before the big day.

Light-up accessories and decorations can work in a variety of ways. Popular glowing sticks and jewelry utilize a chemical reaction initiated once you snap or shake them. Jewelry and light-up accessory items harness the superior, clear light from LED bulbs using small, hidden battery packs and can illuminate for dozens of hours. A black light bulb uses the ultraviolet spectrum to illuminate items, which is why whites glow blue under its rays. Strings of LED lights can plug into wall sockets or use battery packs for more versatile decorating. The options are unlimited and the convenience of battery power lets you plan your party indoors or out for added versatility.