Glowing Paper Flower Lights

What you need

• String of LED lights, 1
• Paper cupcake liners or paper cups, 10 to 20
• Crayons or markers, a handful of markers
• Kid scissors, 1 pair
• Pencil, 1

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Find a string of LED lights (LED only, since other bulbs get hot), plus paper cupcake liners or paper cups, markers, scissors and a pencil. You will plug in the lights and hang them up.

1. Pick cupcake liners or paper cups for your light shades.
2. Snip the edges into flower petals or snowflake points.
3. Color your shades with bright markers.
   Ask: Which color do you think will glow the brightest?
4. Poke a small hole in the bottom of each shade with a pencil. Ask for help if you need it
5. A grown-up pushes each LED bulb through a hole. A grown-up does this
6. Hang the light string over a window or bed together. A grown-up does this
7. Switch off the room lights while a grown-up plugs in the string.
   Ask: What do you notice about the glow coming through each shade?
8. Count the glowing lights and every color you can spot.
9. Show your family your glowing garden, or make more shades!
   Ask: What shapes will you add to your glowing garden next time?

Play it again

• Season swap: make snowflakes for winter, flowers for spring and pumpkins for fall.
• Pattern string: arrange the shades in a color pattern and have someone guess what comes next.
• Light hunt: hide a few extra colored shades and count which colors glow warmest in the dark.