Make Your Own Glow Sticks

Make a string of glowing lights that you can dance with, read by, or wear.

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• 9-volt battery
• Battery snap cap
• A string of ornamental lights (that can be destroyed)
• Duct tape
• Scissors
• Wire strippers

• NOTE: MAKE SURE THE LIGHTS ARE NOT PLUGGED IN WHEN DOING THIS.
• Cut as close to the plug as you can.

• Cut the wire as close to the fifth bulb as possible so you have about three inches of wire at each end of the string.

• Hold the first bulb. Find the plastic-coated wire it is connected to.
• Untwist that wire from the others. You’ll end up with one wire with four bulbs attached.

• Strip off the plastic coating so you have about ¾ of an inch of exposed metal wire at each end.
• Be careful not to press the wire strippers so hard that you cut through the metal wire.

• Both snap cap wires should have about ½ inch of exposed metal wire at the end. Strip them if necessary.

• Twist together one metal wire from the light string and one of the snap cap’s metal wires.
• Use tape to make a solid connection.

• Complete the circuit by attaching the other two exposed wires as in Step 7.

• Does your glow stick light up? If not, press on the connections inside the tape. Also make sure you have a fresh battery.

• A circuit is a path along which electricity can travel. When you connect the wires from the lights to the wires on the snap cap, you’ve made a circuit. When all parts of the circuit are connected, electricity flows from the battery to the lights and back to the battery, making your glow stick glow!

• Make jewelry. Wearable light? Yes! Use different-length light strings for different pieces.
• Dance in the Dark. For a very dramatic effect, take your glow stick into a dark space.
• Make a longer glow stick. Use two 9-volt batteries in series to power up even more bulbs for a super-long glow stick. To wire in series, connect the red wire of one snap cap to the black wire of a second snap cap. Then connect the light string to the two open wires.