Make Your Hand Glow in the Dark for Halloween

Making your hand glow in the dark doesn't require expensive tools or stage makeup. In fact, you can make your hand (or a foot, if you wish) glow in the dark with common household items. Making your hands glow in the dark can be a fun activity for Halloween parties for children, as your hands turn a spooky blue color! If you've ever wanted to learn how to make your hand glow in the dark, read on.

Obtain the necessary supplies to make your hand glow in the dark. You'll need petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and a black light. If you don't have a black light, you can purchase one at most hardware stores, or a novelty shop like a Spencer's Gifts store at the mall. Hardware stores typically sell black light bulbs, while the novelty shops sell larger black lights. You also might want to wear old clothes and spread newspapers or a tarp over the floor, as petroleum jelly can stain clothing and carpet.

Once you have the black light, find a room in the house with few windows, such as a basement or small bathroom. Turn it on, but leave another light on in the room. You'll need to be able to see what you're doing.

Grab a handful of petroleum jelly out of the jar and spread it over your hands and forearms, if desired. Consider leaving one finger free of the petroleum jelly, as you will need to be able to switch off the room's light.

When you (and everyone else in the room, if applicable) have finished covering your hands with the jelly, switch off the room's light. Hold your hands near the black light-you'll notice that your hands are now glowing a spooky blue color and appear to be glowing in the dark.

Add to the spooky ambiance by playing Halloween music or haunted house sound effects and decorating the room with glow in the dark posters and other Halloween decorations.

Once finished, rinse your hands in under warm water. The jelly can be a little difficult to remove from the skin, so have some loofas handy.

So why does this work? Petroleum jelly (or Vaseline) includes phosphors. Under a black light, the phosphors soak up the invisible radiation from the black light. This makes the phosphors show off light that's visible to the human eye, giving it the appearance that anything on which the jelly is spread, is glowing in the dark.