Glow sticks are a safe, practical way to add color and fun to your Fourth of July or other summertime celebrations. They come in a variety of sizes and colors and are sure to delight kids of all ages.

Summer means the kids are out of school; it also means they want to enjoy their months of freedom by staying outside past dark, playing with their friends. Until now that’s been kind of a dangerous thing for them to do. But not any more. Not with glow sticks lighting up the night.

Glow sticks are small radiant plastic wands that provide a glow that lasts at least 10 to 12 hours. They contain non-toxic, reactive substances that combine to generate light. There’s a little glass vial inside each plastic tube; when you bend the plastic tube, the vial breaks and the two substances mix. You can also get commercially available glow necklaces and glow glasses (eyeglass-shaped flexible tubing devices); activate these by giving them a quick snap to combine the non-toxic substances.

Glow sticks (as well as glow necklaces and glow glasses) are great for lighting up summer nights, and they’re sure to add a big dose of fun to any little kid’s summer! Stock up on them for all your summer outdoor occasions - Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day - plus any other outdoor events you may have on your summer schedule: beach parties, camping trips, graduation parties.

Lots of towns host summer-evening events. Among the most popular are Friday-night movies in the park, weekend-long festivals, band concerts. Selling glow sticks can be a great way to generate funds at these types of festive public events. Kids love the pretty colors and fun, flexible shapes (specifically the necklaces and the glasses) and the long-lasting glow. Parents appreciate the safety they afford their kids, as well as the low price.

Parents also like the convenience of having glow sticks available in multiple colors. They can choose a separate color for each of their children, let them go play and still be able to locate them after dark.

And, with multiple colors to choose from, parents can assign one color of glow stick to each child and easily be able to keep track of who’s where - just by watching for the different colored lights darting about in the dark.

Even adults’ summer-night events can benefit from some brightening up: evening pool parties, backyard parties, apartment-dwellers’ porch parties perhaps even a midnight swim or a quiet soak for two in the hot tub. You can try hanging glow sticks from low-hanging tree branches for a fun, festive touch (doing that yields an especially appealing effect when there’s a slight breeze and the glow sticks sway in the dark).

Besides, what better light source could there be to bring along on those romantic moonlit walks and the moonlight isn’t cooperating with your plans?