Glow in the Dark Volleyball

Anything you can play on the dark with glow sticks and black lights is sure to be a huge success at your family reunion or party.

Played in the dark, the net, ball, out-of-bounds line and related equipment come alive with the glowing magic of glow sticks, bracelets, tape and black lights!

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You will have to do some advance planning and gather the following equipment for your glow in the dark game.

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Purchase glow in the dark tape to wrap around volleyball, beach ball, plastic play ball or purchase a real glow in the dark volleyball available at Family Reunion Helper.

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Glow Bracelets

Buy lots of glow bracelets.  You will need them for the net and for everyone to wear. Glow bracelets are pretty inexpensive- a hundred for under $10.00 in the Family Reunion Helper store.  Glow sticks are also fun to hang on the net.

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Black Lights

You can rent black lights for about $10.00  a day but we found black light strips at Walmart for under $20.00 which included the light bulb and stand.  We only needed two lights to light up our small gym.

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Other black lights as are available.  Tape to the wall for added fun.  Don’t forget extension cords for all these lights.  

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White T-shirts

Ask family members to wear white t-shirts for extra fun.  Some will forget but it won’t interfere with the game.  Most shirts that are 100% cotton will glow in the dark under black lights.

You can play glow in the dark volleyball using just glow sticks but adding black lights really gives the game an illuminating boost!

For refreshments serve glow in the dark lemonade- the secret to glowing food is tonic water (diet tonic water works too).  It contains quinine, and guess what happens when you expose quinine to black light yep, it glows!  Tonic water can have a bit of a bitter taste to it so use as little as possible.  Hint:  Serve glow in the dark Jell-O by replacing some of the water with tonic water.

“It’s better to illuminate than merely to shine.”

Aunt MO

Glow in the Dark Whiffle (Wiffle) Ball for Your Family Reunion

My family loves playing Wiffle Ball. My brothers and I have played Wiffle Ball since we were just little kids living in Brigham City, Utah. Wiffle Ball is a fun game that is played like baseball but the balls and bats are made out of plastic. We were always sad when the sun went down and we had to go inside but no more- now you can play Glow in the Dark Wiffle Ball and the darker the better.

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We have played Glow-in-the Dark whiffle ball at several family reunions and it’s been a “hit” every time- literally. Here’s how to organize a Glow-in-the-Dark Wiffle Ball game for your family reunion or party.

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You will need:

2- 8 inch glow in the dark bracelets for everyone plus a few extras to stuff into the whiffle ball.

1- 22 inch glow in the dark necklace for each player

Light sticks- I like to use the emergency light sticks because they are bigger and brighter and more durable. You will use these sticks to mark the bases, pitching mound and home plate. Use a paper plate, carpet sample or rubber squares to mark the bases and set the light sticks in the middle.

Regular wiffle ball bats and balls- you don’t need to do anything with the bat. We have put glow in the dark tape on the bat and painted it with glow-in-the dark paint but you really don’t need it. cc You can also purchase a glow-in-the-dark bat and balls but it’s really not necessary.

You can use multi-colored glow bracelets and necklaces or use just two colors so that you can easily distinguish between the two teams during the game.

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Preparations:

Before the game snap 3 or 4 glow bracelets and stuff them inside the whiffle ball. Keep a few extra glow bracelets on hand because the bracelets will fall out of the whiffle ball during the game but that is just part of the fun.

Set out the bases as you would for a regular baseball game.

Divide the players into 2 equal teams. 9 players a team is the traditional standard, but for a glow-in-the-dark wiffle ball game the more the merrier.

Decide which team will take the offensive first. The offensive team will be batting and running the bases, while the defensive team will be pitching and trying to tag the offense with the ball.

Pitch the ball if you’re on defense. Pitching a wiffle ball will take some getting used to because of the way a wiffle ball moves through the air and when it’s full of glow stick it is even crazier.

Once the batter hits the wiffle ball, you’ll want to try to tag them with the ball to get an "out." When you get 3 outs, switch to offense.

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Switch places every 3 outs. You won’t necessarily want to play for 9 innings; everyone will want a turn to bat so it will depend on how large your teams are and how long you want the game to last.

The team with the most runs at the end of the Wiffle ball game is the winner. 

Planning a glow-in-the-dark wiffle ball game for your family reunion takes some preparation but it’s a fun and unusual game that everyone enjoys and is an interesting change from traditional night time family reunion activities.

Be aware when searching for Wiffle ball products, some people spell “Whiffle” ball with an “h” and some without- “Wiffle” ball.

You can purchase all of glow items mentioned in this article at the family reunion helper store along with other fun glow in the dark items.