In addition to all of my End of the Year theme days, several teachers have asked me to create an end-of-the-year Glow Day, and I knew it was time to bring this idea to life! I wanted to create a day that is both educational and fun while also being cost-effective—because I know how important it is to stay within budget. This 379-page resource is packed with activities and ideas, allowing you to design the perfect Neon Glow Day for your students. Let’s take a look!
Preparing for Glow Day
Before the festivities begin, send home a Glow Day letter to families, encouraging students to come dressed in their brightest clothing. You’ll also find multiple signs and banners to decorate your classroom. Whether you choose to use glow sticks, black lights, flashlights, or simply keep the lights on, the setup is completely customizable.
Glow Day Activities
I like to start Glow Day with a few whole-class activities before transitioning into engaging center-based learning. Here are a couple of fun ways to begin:
Let’s Glow Headbands
Students create headbands designed to hold a glow stick, adding extra light to their experience.
Glow-in-the-Dark Bracelets
Kids can string glow beads to make their own bracelets.
Glow Stick Craft
This colorful glow stick craft includes printable bulletin board letters to create a bright display.
Adopt a Glow Pet
Students love adopting their own glowing pet for the day! I purchased the cups and glow animals on Amazon. I’ve also included printable certificates for glow pet adoption.
Games, Poems, and more!
I love to include a variety of activities with each of my theme days so that you can pick and choose what works best for your class and so that you can change it up from year to year. You can see below that Glow Day includes a variety of math games, a phonics decoding movement game, plus an original poem with activities and a firefly craft.
Glow Day Reading Activities
Selecting the perfect book for Glow Day was tough, so I included activities for three fantastic picture books:
Glow by Kayla Diamond
A broken glow stick feels left out because it doesn’t glow. This unit includes printable reading comprehension worksheets. You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases.)
The Glow Show by Susi Schaefer
A squid loves showing off but loses friends due to his attitude. This Glow Day set also includes a variety of printable reading comprehension activities for this book so you can pick and choose what works best for your students. You can also find a copy of this book on Amazon.
The Jellyfish Who Lost His Glow by Little Hippo Books
A jellyfish solves the mystery of his missing glow with the help of friends. Lots of printable reading comprehension activities also included for this book as well as a glowing jellyfish craft! You can find a copy of this book on Amazon.
Nonfiction Exploration: Animals That Glow
As much as I love fiction, I love to add nonfiction too! My first graders love to learn facts and they are like little sponges ready to soak up information. I did some research and found several animals naturally glow in our world. I wrote a nonfiction reader called “Animals that Glow” that you can project and share with your class or print the mini reader and read that way. This book also included several activities to review those nonfiction informational text standards.
More End of the Year Theme Days
End of the Year theme days are a great way to make learning fun in the last days of school! Glow Day is included in the EOY Bundle (Set 3) shown below.
It’s also included in my 18 days of EOY Theme Days Mega Bundle (shown below).
Or in the 26-day ABC Countdown to Summer Bundle (shown below).
You can also read about more End of the Year theme days here:
