Be an Ultraviolet Detective

2009 February 11
by 5 Orange Potatoes

We are getting ready for our first trip to Disney World (leaving Saturday). We have been talking to the ladies about how the sun’s rays will be more powerful in Florida than here in Ohio. I decided to pull out the UV solar beads to prove it to them. These cool beads have a pigment in them that is sensitive to UV rays. The stronger the rays, the brighter the beads.

When we opened them up, inside the house, they were a creamy white:

As soon as they were exposed to UV rays, they turned pretty pastel colors:

Since it is still winter here in Ohio (and cloudy today), we did not get to experience the beads’ full brightness potential. We thought it would be neat to make special UV bracelets to wear in Florida and see how bright these babies can really get! Now if you make the bracelets inside you won’t be able to tell what color the UV bead is that you’re using, so we decided to make the bracelets outside (and it was quite warm today, spring is right around the corner, YEA).

We used pipecleaners, an assortment of pretty beads and the UV beads for our bracelets.



The ladies picked the beads they found pretty and strung them onto the pipecleaners.

They made quite a few pretty bracelets for family and friends.

We plan to be UV detectives in Florida….Where do the beads get brightest? Do they change color in the shade? What happens when we apply sunscreen to the beads…does this effect the color? If you want to try this yourself, click here for one of the many companies that carry these beads.

related post

  • Share/Bookmark

from → activities, jewlery

9 Responses leave one →
  1. 2009 April 2
    Georgine permalink

    OK, love this idea, really love that you used pipe cleaners! I need to try that with my daughter. I need beads with bigger centers though. How did you like Disney? We just got back last Wednesday. My daughter’s (she is 2) first trip. She (me too!) is still recovering. Thanks for all the good ideas!

    Reply
  2. 2009 February 12
    icybooh permalink

    This is a GREAT idea! Where did you find these beads? Are they just called UV beads?

    Reply
  3. 2009 February 12
    Dave permalink

    I read your blog. It looked like fun.

    Reply
  4. 2009 February 12
    earthmama permalink

    Mama, you were born to blog! What an enchanting stroll through your life. This is hands down one of my very favorite blogs!!! Thank you soooo much for sharing your life:)

    Reply
  5. 2009 February 11
    karenjane permalink

    what a great idea! such a fun way to make your girls awear of the suns uv. i can only imagine how bright the beads would have gotten if i had some here last week (it was hot!!)

    Reply
  6. 2009 February 11
    Lisa permalink

    Thank you so much for the nice comments! :)
    It only takes a few minutes for them to turn back into white. It really depends on how bright they are. Today was a low UV day due to the clouds…they really can get a lot brighter on a sunny Ohio summer day!

    Reply
  7. 2009 February 11
    Tammy permalink

    The colors of those beads are so soft and pretty. How long does it take for the beads to change back to white?

    Reply
  8. 2009 February 11
    Willo permalink

    What a BRILLIANT idea! How clever of you! Thanks for stopping by today!

    Reply
  9. 2009 February 11
    The Magic Onions permalink

    You are SUCH a clever mom…

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Note: You can use basic XHTML in your comments. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS

Spam Protection by WP-SpamFree

My designs and creations are made by my daughters and me. I love to share but my ideas and designs are for non-commercial use only. If you post an activity or photo from my site please give me credit and a direct link to 5 Orange Potatoes. Thank you for playing nice. :)