The school aged children in my childcare home love to make crafts. I used to teach crafts for our church camp, and love working with children in all the different areas that concern crafts.
What child doesn’t like to paint? All of my childcare kids really enjoy painting, and I have a large variety of paints from which to choose, but their favorite paint to experiment with is Plaid Glo Away.
Product Description
Plaid Glo Away is a gel paint that, when dried, actually glows in the dark. Plaid states that this product is certified as being non-toxic, always a plus when allowing the children to use it, and that it is safe to use on a variety of materials, including fabrics, glass, plastic, wood and even ceramic.
They further state that it is a washable paint, in that it will clean up with plain soap and water. The plastic bottles are quite small, they only contain 1.1 ounces, and retail for $2.99.
My Recommendation
Plaid Glo Away washable paint can be found in crafts stores, one of them that I know carries it is Michael’s. You’ll find it on the shelves with the rest of the childrens paints. Although this paint washes off with water, it is not water soluble, meaning it will not dissolve in water.
What a fun way to make a craft with a child! The possibilities with using Plaid Glo Away are endless. Since the product is a gel, it’s thicker than some of the paints that I have used, and sticks to the surface much better. Some fun ideas for using Plaid Glo Away are for painting a poster for your child to hang in their bedroom, you could even paint the walls or ceiling with stars, the moon and other planets to make your own glow in the dark planetarium. Painted items will have a greenish yellowish color to them.
You could purchase different sizes of styrofoam balls and paint them with the Plaid Glo Away, then hang them from the ceiling in your childs bedroom, this way the project can be taken down and you won’t have to worry about repainting the bedroom when your son or daughter gets tired of their glow in the dark solar system.
Other ideas are to paint a lamp shade or light switch with the Plaid Glo Away, which would give off a gentle glow once the lights have been turned off. If you feel so inclined to let your child paint clothing or shoes, beware that any mistakes they make may become permanent. If you can’t wash the items in the washing machine, I would not recommend painting them. A fun craft item is to purchase a simple black T-shirt and paint it with these glow in the dark paints, kids will love them!
Like with all glow in the dark items, the outcome is better if the items are exposed to sunlight or artificial light before hand, so be sure your childs room is fully lit during the daytime to allow them to enjoy their works of art in the evening when they go to bed!
Just as the company, Plaid Enterprises, states, their Plaid Glo Away paint will indeed wash out with soap and water, but I would recommend washing up right away after their projects are finished.
The price of almost $3 for such a small container is a little bit high in my opinion, so when it’s not on sale, I always try to use one of my Michael’s 40% coupons, which makes it much more affordable.
