Submitted by Diane Hamilton, Churchville, New York

Idea posted November 4, 2003

Here is an interesting and very fun "fad" that your students will NEVER forget and that is well worth the investment.

Materials needed:

  • One black light (about $15)
  • Old white socks any size (the ones the washer didn't eat that can't seem to find a match)
  • Plastic cups (could be white to glow)
  • Rap music or other music with a steady beat
  • Optional: Black light hairspray to spray the cups or hands if you don't have socks.

Objective:

Students will create rhythm patterns using "unconventional" "found" objects.

Pass out the cups and the socks. Students put the sock on their right hand. They put their hand on the top of the cup to start.

Darken the room with black bulletin board paper on the windows and door (allowing to fold it up after the activity to not break fire codes). Put your black light on top of a cart or desk. Students sit in two rows facing each other. The black light should be behind the two rows in the middle.

Practice with the light on first. Play the music and ask students to tap their cup in front of them. Change to "grab, pass" when they are steady. Add eighth notes into the routine, "Grab, pass, grab, tap, tap" (eighth notes), or use the old standby "we will rock 'em" rhythm to "tap, tap, pass, tap, tap, pass." Turn the cups over and perform "grab, pass, tap, drink" (bottoms up on the rest to the mouth) with two quarter notes and one rest on the "drink."

Turn out the lights and do the routine with glow-in-the-dark hands. You can also spray coke cans with black light hairspray and have even more fun!

I also do sign language songs under black light with socks as gloves, campaign white hats without the stars and stripes band, sprayed canes out of dowel rods, and white socks on the hands for a hat and cane routine that has "floating" hands, hats, and canes. I also sprayed hula hoops and did a routine with them in the dark. You can also use white ribbon tacked to black taped rhythm sticks. Anything you spray with blacklight hair spray will glow. It is cheaper to buy it after Halloween and to buy the black lights on sale, too. Have fun!