Illuminating Activities for Kids This Summer

School is out and summer is in! With so much free time, it’s hard to decide what to do with your kids. If you’re in need of some ideas, here are several activities that can keep kids occupied this summer.

Lanterns

Making paper lanterns is an easy project that your younger kids can enjoy all summer. There are dozens of printable templates available online and you can use any paper that you have on hand. Patterns can be made using a hole puncher. Then light your completed lantern with an LED tea light.

Older kids can make them with a soup can or other large tin can using a power drill. All they need to do is do is trace out their pattern and drill the holes about half an inch apart. Use LED tea lights for soup cans and battery operated string lights for larger tins.

Galaxy Tunnel

This fun activity uses large cardboard boxes and LED Christmas string lights to create a pathway among the "stars". Connect your cardboard boxes together to make a long tunnel that is easy for kids to crawl though. To start, help your children poke small holes in the tops and sides of the boxes to insert the lights. Your kids can also make Styrofoam planets and draw spaceships on the inside to enhance their space journey.

Holy Bat Signal!

If your children love playing superhero, then a bat signal is just what they need. This can be easily done by drawing the logo on the lens of a flashlight. However, for a bolder signal that's sure to reach Gotham City go with a spot light or a large desk lamp. You will need an indoor multi-purpose spot light, a Batman logo to use as a template, a piece of cardboard, and some tape. Adjust the size of your template to make sure that it fits your lamp opening and then print it. Next, trace the logo onto the cardboard and cut it out. Tape the logo in place at the opening. Your kids can then turn the light on and go bring evil doers to justice.

Jug Night Light

Are you going camping or do you have a little one that's afraid of the dark? A jug night light is just the activity for you. All this quick craft needs is an empty plastic milk jug and several glow sticks. Activate your glow stick and then let your children put them in the jug. If you want a bright and longer lasting light, then use industrial grade glow sticks. Fill up the jug with water and put the cap back on. The kids can even decorate them with markers.

Lemon Battery

An interesting way to introduce your children to electricity is to make a lemon battery to power an LED diode. For this activity you will need 4 lemons, 4 galvanized nails, 4 copper wire pieces, 5 alligator clips, and an LED diode. You can use pennies in place of the copper wire. Place one nail and one piece of wire into opposite ends of each lemon. Then use alligator clips to connect the lemons together, nail to wire, until they are all linked with a free clip at each end like the image shown. You can then attach the leads of the LED diode to the clips to complete the circuit and fascinate your budding scientists.

Fun fact: To light a small LED C7 replacement bulb, you would need to use 28 lemons. If you want to light an A-shaped LED bulb, you would need over 100 lemons.

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