DIY Glowing Scratch Art Paper

We love everything that glows! We created DIY scratch art paper that glows when you draw! This homemade craft supply is fun to make and beautiful to use for kids' artwork, too.

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I had the brainstorm for this art idea after the kids were in bed one night while watching Ink Masters with Mr. SPS. What? You don't watch tattoo competitions after the kids are asleep? The artists were creating a portrait by scratching at a large wall to reveal the black light reflective surface underneath. Could we think of a way to try this at home?

I remembered from my college days that highlighters glow under the black light. Just make sure you try out your highlighters under the UV light first as we had some brands that worked and some that didn't glow. We used cute monster highlighters I've had forever which I can't find to link for you but here is the same brand.

Our preschooler and I colored cardstock sheets completely with highlighters. I covered the cardstock with packing tape, painted a special scratch off paint on the tape, and let the DIY scratch art paper dry. We could hardly wait to try scratching the paint away with a disposable chopstick under the black light and it worked! It glows! (She also loved how the highlighter marks left on her hand from making the paper glowed too!)

I just love how the different colors of the highlighter shine through to create a glowing rainbow effect! We couldn't wait to make a bunch more of these homemade scratch art sheets since they are super simple to create.

The special scratch off paint is the same recipe I used in our gender reveal cards. Mix a squirt of dish soap in with black acrylic paint. Paint on the tape covered paper and let try before gently scratching away to reveal the glowing magic underneath!

Whether you have a reluctant writer at home or any child that needs practice with pencil grasp this is the most motivating fine motor activity!

Check out these other ways to create art with light from the Light & Reflections team:

Play Dough Window Art from And Next Comes L

Painting with Light from Frog in a Pocket

Chalk Art on the Light Table from Where Imagination Grows