If it’s starting to feel a little dreary that the sun sets so early this time of year, make the dark exciting by deliberately setting things all aglow!

We did this in two ways tonight. First up was a round of Glow in the Dark Bowling. This is so easy to do: simply activate glow sticks and insert one per empty water bottle. The kids loved helping to crack the sticks…

…and put them in the bottles!

We set up a formation of the bottles and took aim. A glow-in-the-dark ball would have been ideal, but the bright neon of a tennis ball was the next best thing.

Or sometimes Veronika just wanted to knock the bottles over by hand. Either way, everyone was delighted by the glow.

Next, we went on a hunt for Shiny Things in the Dark. As Veronika and I headed up for bedtime, I handed her a flashlight and we found all sorts of things that were shiny and beautiful as the light hit them. Metal is obviously a big winner here, so look for items like foil pans…

…or coffee pots and tea kettles. Appliances like the fridge and oven were neat, too.

Upstairs in her room, she wandered all over with such careful footsteps and found items like toy cars and her music box.

One thing is for sure: we made the night shine!