Only one kind of lighting bug in the United States, a species called Photinus carolinus, can synchronize its light patterns. One of the most popular places to see these synchronous fireflies is Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, according to the National Park Service.
Water Bottle Lightning Bug Craft
Summer is the time of staying up late, giggles, and catching fireflies.
We had so much fun catching fireflies and making our fingerprint firefly craft , that we just had to make some lightning bugs that would actually light up at night.
This simple kids craft is fun to do before a camping trip. Then you can use it for a nightlight!
Lightning Bug Craft
To make your own glowing firefly friend, you will need:
- an empty water bottle or individual sized pop bottle
- 3 whole pipe cleaners (legs) and 1 half pipe cleaner (antennae)
- black construction paper
- black tissue paper (ours was actually very dark blue)
- wiggly eyes
- 1 glow stick
- white school glue
- hot glue gun
Start by wrapping the 3 pipe cleaners around the bottle, making sure to twist them tightly into place.
Bend the tips to become the lightning bug’s feet. (You may need to help the youngest crafts twist the pipe cleaners tight enough to stay secure.)
Use a paintbrush to apply glue to the bottle, up around the bottle’s neck and in between all the firefly’s legs.
Wrap the tissue paper around the bottle to give your firefly a dark body.
Finally, twist the half pipe cleaner around the bottle’s neck (we used a sparkly one) and hot glue the eyes onto the sides of the bottle’s opening.
Once the lightning bugs dry, add glow sticks to make them glow. (You will need to bend them a bit to make them fit inside the bottles.)
Since there is no lid on the bottle, it is easy to swap out glow sticks when needed.
This lightning bug craft makes a fun nightlight for sleepovers or to take camping.
You’ll also enjoy:
- Glowing Lightning Bug Craft from a Plastic Egg
- Awesome Camp Crafts
- Super Simple Water Bottle Sun Catcher Craft
Filed Under: Kids Crafts Tagged With: recycled craft, water bottle craft
Comments
- [email protected] says July 21, 2013 at 9:00 pm
those look so cute and what a great idea! If I had young ones still I would so do this. If I have any more babies I have to try this with them!!
These are cute It would be fun to make them and take them outside for a picnic dinner, while it’s getting dark!
- OneMommy says July 23, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Definitely cute for an evening picnic!
Amazing idea, we love your creativity! Ananasa.com- Home For Handmade
Cute, cute craft for summer.
- OneMommy says July 27, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Thank you! I love that they can change the glow stick easily. Definitely taking them if we go camping!
What a great craft!! I love it! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Were going camping soon – am going to make some of these when were there. Thanks for joining in the Monday Parenting Pin it Party
- OneMommy says July 29, 2013 at 10:35 pm
They aren’t flies
Fireflies, lightning bugs — no matter what you call them, these insects aren’t flies at all. They are actually beetles, which is the largest group of animals on Earth, with more than 350,000 known species in the world, according to the Smithsonian.
Of the hundreds of thousands of beetle species in the world, more than 2,000 of them are fireflies. Lightning bugs live on every continent except Antarctica, but only about 160 lightning bug species live in the United States, the Xerces Society reports. Florida and Georgia have the most firefly diversity, with more than 50 species living in each state.
Their light is the most efficient in the world
The light produced by lightning bugs is the most efficient kind of light produced in the world, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Nearly 100% of the energy produced by the chemical reaction that causes them to light up is emitted in the form of light.
The chemical reaction that causes bioluminescence in fireflies occurs when oxygen combines with adenosine triphosphate (or ATP, which you may remember from high school biology as the molecule in all cells that carries energy) and a chemical called luciferin, Scientific American reports. The result of this chemical reaction is an enzyme called luciferase, which is what causes the familiar glow. It’s important that the lighting bugs not generate heat as a result of the chemical reaction because they would not be able to survive it.
They don’t all produce light
It’s lucky for us here in Illinois that our lightning bugs light up, because that isn’t the case everywhere. In fact, although lightning bugs live in all the 48 contiguous states, fireflies that light up are very rare west of the Rocky Mountains, the Xerces Society reports.
Firefly species that don’t light up are typically not nocturnal. Instead, they are active during the day and use pheromones instead of light to attract a mate, according to Scientific American. Some species use both light and pheromones to attract mates.
