Glow in the Dark Pumpkins Decorate for Halloween with these eerie glowing pumpkins! email to friend
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1. If you are using real pumpkins start by wiping them off with a damp cloth to remove any dirt from the pumpkin patch. Once rinsed, dry the pumpkin thoroughly.
2. Pour the Glow Powder from its jar into the salt or sugar shaker. This will make it much easier to sprinkle the powder onto your pumpkin.
3. Draw the face pieces on the contact paper and cut each piece out. Peel the pieces off the paper backing and arrange them as a face for your pumpkin.
4. Once your jack-o-lantern face is complete, take your pumpkin outside and place it on the drop cloth. If you need to do the experiment indoors, make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area and place the pumpkin in the cardboard box.
5. Spray sections of the pumpkin with the spray adhesive, immediately following with the Glow Powder. For best results, hold the adhesive 10-14 cm (4-6 in) away from the pumpkin and spray a heavy coat. When sprinkling the powder, you may also want to tilt your pumpkin to get it evenly covered.
6. Continue spraying and powdering each section of the pumpkin until the entire pumpkin is completely covered with powder. Carefully shake off any excess powder as you go.
7. Collect the excess Glow Powder and pour it back into the shaker.
8. Repeat steps four and five to ensure that your pumpkin is evenly and completely covered with powder.
9. After the adhesive is completely dry, spray the entrie pumpkin with the sealant to make sure that the Glow Powder stays affixed to the pumpkin.
10. After the pumpkin is dry, your spooky Halloween decoration is ready! Sit the pumpkins next to a black light for an extra bright glow on Halloween.

How does it work?

Learning about the science of things that glows requires an understanding of two important terms - fluorescence and phosphorescence. It's also important to note that not all zinc sulfide glows, but luminous zinc sulfide does glow!

Fluorescence - This type of luminescence occurs when some form of radiation, such as light, causes an object to glow. For example, fluorescent papers and poster boards glow in the daylight. They may seem to glow even brighter under black light (ultraviolet), but in either case, as soon as the light is removed, the glow stops.Fluorescent things do not glow in the dark all by themselves – they require some other form of energy such as ultraviolet light to “excite” them.

Phosphorescence - Phosphorescence is just like fluorescence, except that the glow continues even after the light used to excite it is removed. “Glow in the dark” toys phosphoresce brightly in total darkness after being “charged” or excited by ordinary white or ultraviolet light.

Glow Powder works by absorbing surrounding light energy and then releases that energy when the lights go out. It's called a phosphorescent It's the perfect way to get your students excited about energy... and a great way to celebrate Halloween! Just add glow powder to almost any of our favorite products and you'll have an eerie new take on your favorite experiments! So, how does zinc sulfide work? Imagine that an atom looks something like our solar system. The sun would be the nucleus consisting of positive charges called protons and neutral charges called neutrons. The planets spinning around the sun would be similar to the electrons of an atom in orbits around the nucleus.

When the electrons in the atoms of special molecules like zinc sulfide become excited, they move farther away from the nucleus -- into higher or more distant orbits. In order to become excited, the electrons must take on energy. In this case, light provided the required energy to cause the electrons to move to a higher energy level. It’s as if Earth were to move farther away from the sun into the orbit of Mars or Jupiter.

The electrons will remain in the excited state as long as they receive light to energize them. But, when the light used as an exciter is removed, the electrons will slowly return to their original lower orbits. As they do so, they give up the energy that excited them in the form of light.

Additional Info

This experiment was originally presented by Martha Stewart on her day-time show. When Martha wanted glowing pumpkins, she called us for A LOT of our Glow Powder. We loved Martha's pumpkins so much we had to recreate them for you!