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These mason jar lamps are an easy way to add a little glow to a campsite, an evening stargazing, or just a night in the backyard.

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I used jelly sized jars, purchased in a flat of 12 from a local grocery store, but you can use any size jars.  The glow sticks are from the dollar store.  I used 3 types of colorful tape:  duct tape, packaging tape and washi tape.  They all look great on the jars. The duct tape requires cutting with scissors. The packaging tape has its own cutting blade.  The washi tape was the easiest to work with as it tears easily and doesn't require scissors. 

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Have your child cut or tear sections of the tape they want to use. My four year old did amazingly well cutting through the very sticky and thick duct tape.

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Place tape all over the outside of the jar to cover completely.

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My 9-year-old easily wrapped the packaging tape with the cutting blade around the jar.

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Once the tape is sticking to the jar, press all around the jar to smooth out the air bubbles in the tape.

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Place tape on the bottom of the jar as well. The tape will hold the pieces together if the jar gets dropped and broken.

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Wait until dusk, then activate your glow sticks or turn on your battery operated tea lights and place them inside the jars. I love how these turned out! An easy and fun craft by day, and a dramatic way to light up the night. 

mason jars

colorful tape (duct, packaging, washi, etc.)

scissors

glow sticks or battery operated tea lights

Glow Lights

decorations

homemade craft

easy craft

quick craft

useful craft project

indoor project

Use ping-pong balls to put your own creative spin on a simple light string. Go with simple glowing globes or add details with permanent markers for unique room decor.

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It is important to use LED lights because these do not get hot when used with the ping-pong balls.

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If you have multi-colored ping-pong balls, plan out a pattern for your light string before attaching your ping-pong balls to the LEDs. Make sure you have enough ping-pong balls for the project.

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Take a pair of scissors or an X-Acto knife and carefully puncture a hole into the ping-pong ball. Be very careful not to hurt yourself here! You may need to puncture the hole multiple times to get the hole large enough for the LED to go through. I used scissors to make an "X" slit. My holes were about 1/4-inch, which worked well for attaching and detaching the ping-pong balls. Repeat this step for all the ping-pong balls you plan to use.

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If you'd like, take a permanent marker and draw designs on your ping-pong balls. Let the marker ink dry before you touch them again to avoid smudges.&nbsp;

Draw away from the punctured hole as this portion of the ping-pong ball will be covered by the wires of the LED light string and may cover your designs.

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Once all your ping-pong balls have been punctured, take one ping-pong ball and push the LED light through the hole on the ping-pong ball to attach them to the light string.

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Repeat step 5 for all the ping-pong balls that will go on your LED light string. As mentioned before, I would suggest planning your pattern before attaching the ping-pong balls. I didn't do this and spent extra time taking the ping-pong balls on and off.

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You are done! Now you can show off your glowing light string.

ping-pong balls (enough for the number of lights, and a few extra)

led string light

permanent markers (e.g. sharpies)

Ping Pong Glow Lights

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Christmas

Christmas crafts

These lanterns are especially charming in the autumn and winter, thanks to cozy indoor craft projects and soft golden candlelight...

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Grownup supervision is required for this project. (My daughter just 
turned seven, but we tackled this project for the first time when she 
was just four...and we still love it!) 

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The day before we planned to make our lanterns, we washed the cans, 
filled them near the top with water, and put them in the freezer. (The 
ice will keep the cans from smashing and denting as you hammer on the 
cans.)

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Working on a towel to provide stability, Maddie dried off a spot on our 
frosty can and drew a very simple design. (Very young kids may prefer 
that someone else draws their design for them.) Kids who just want to 
hammer free-style on the can might not want a drawn picture.

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Holding the nail securely over the design, Maddie carefully hammered small holes over the design.

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She continued to work on creating holes for her pattern until the can 
was completely outlined in small holes. We made two more holes on the 
two sides of her design to string it with a wire handle.

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We dumped out the ice, and washed off the drawn pattern. We added a wire handle and a little tea light.

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Our lanterns cast a soft, gentle glow in our front porch. Aren't they lovely?!

tin can

hammer

nail

towel

battery-operated tea light

wire (optional)

markers (optional)

Tin Lanterns

electronics

science project

outdoor science projects

building

Create a DIY camping lantern using a water bottle — and science.

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Gather the materials to make your DIY lantern.

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Cut out at least 8 circles out of your cardboard. You will want them to be larger in diameter than both your water bottle and tap light.

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Cut smaller circles out of the center of the larger ones turning them into rings. They should be just slightly larger than the diameter of your tap light so that it fits loosely in the center.

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Keep cutting out the circles until you have a stack that is taller than your tap light.

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Cut two more circles of the same size. Cut a hole smaller than the diameter of the water bottle into the center of one of them. Don't cut a hole in the other one. 

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Glue together all of the cardboard rings you first cut. Then, glue the one with the smaller hole on top. Leave the circle without a hole detached for now.

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Flip over your stack of rings and attach hook and loop fastener dots to the bottom. Attach the opposite hook and loop fastener dots to the circle without a hole.

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Insert your tap light face down into the stack of rings. The bottom cover is removable using the hook and loop fasteners, allowing the light to be turned on and off.

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Glue the water bottle to the top of your cardboard housing. The water bottle's base should cover the hole that the light shines through.

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Cut a length of ribbon, and glue both ends to the sides of the water bottle. This will act as the lantern's handle.

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The last step is to turn on the light and find a dark place to test our your lantern!

What's happening?
The water causes the light to change direction. (You can see the same effect by putting a pencil in a clear glass of water – viewed from the side, the pencil appears to be broken.) This change in direction is called refraction, and it causes the focused light from the tap light to disperse in all directions. This spreads the light out around your campsite, making it easier to see all around you.

water bottles

tap light

cardboard

craft knife (or circle cutter)

hook and loop fasteners

ribbon

hot glue

hot glue gun

Water Bottle Lantern

Halloween

Halloween decorations

Halloween crafts

Candles make for a perfectly eerie Halloween glow. Watching them dance in the center of the dinner table last night, I was inspired to create this "ghostly" Halloween project. I molded ghosts from some air dry clay to illuminate Halloween dinner-time stories. These ghosts fit in nicely with Halloween room decor, and can serve as fun gifts! 

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To make a mold for your ghost luminaries, place a ball (foam, plastic, or aluminum) on a cup. Make sure the ball is bigger than the opening of the cup. Then, use tape to secure them together. We used a foam ball and a few aluminum balls we made ourselves. To make an aluminum ball, crumple up a sheet of aluminum foil and push down any sharp edges.&nbsp;

If you use a softer ball, it will be easier to separate the clay from the ball once dry.

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Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the mold and tape it in place.

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Roll out the clay into a 2D circle with a 1/8" thickness. Use a plastic knife to cut off uneven edges if needed.

Before you roll out the clay, tape a piece of wax paper onto your work surface to prevent the clay from leaving marks on your table.

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Carefully lift the clay from the table, and drape it over the mold. Try to line up the center of the clay with the top of the mold for the ghost to stand up straight later on.

When you drape the clay over the mold, don't press your clay against the space between the ball and the cup. This will make it easier for you to take the ball out of the mold once your clay has dried.

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Use a large straw to punch holes out for the eyes of the ghost. Then, let your ghost(s) dry for a few hours. Depending on your air-dry clay, you may have to wait just a few hours or all night for the ghost to be completely dry. Repeat steps 1-5 to make a few friends for your spooky little ghost! Try making different size molds to make larger and smaller ghosts. 

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Once the ghost is dry, carefully remove it from the mold.

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Finally, place your ghost over a tea light, turn off the lights, and get a little spooked! 

air-dry clay

straws (in various sizes)

cups

soft balls (or aluminum foil)

plastic wrap

rolling pin

Tape

wax paper (as a mess mat)

battery-powered tea light

Ghost Tealights

rainbows

rainbow science

rainbow craft

art project

Explore reflective materials, colors, and patterns with this easy-to-make DIY kaleidoscope! The word kaleidoscope literally means “beautiful shape viewer.” By using colored beads and a mirrored surface, you can make amazing changing scenes of color. Looking to take your kaleidoscope to the next level? <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/nature-kaleidoscope-set/5293" target="_self">Kaleidoscope Set</a> includes everything needed to build a high quality wooden kaleidoscope, with activities and samples included!

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Wrap the colored paper around the outside of the toilet paper tube and secure it with masking tape. Then, trim any excess paper to the size of the tube. 

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Trace three circles onto the plastic food container lid using one end of the tube. Then, cut out each circle. 

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Hot glue one circle to one end of the cardboard tube. 

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Cut the reflective paper so that its length is 1” (2.5 cm)&nbsp;shorter than the tube (ours was 4”) and it’s width is 4 ½" (11.4 cm). 

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Fold the non-reflective side in thirds about 1 ½” (3.8 cm)&nbsp;away from the short sides of the paper. 

21 fun luminary projects for kids

Screen-free fun!