Non-scary activities for the dark

I've become that mom who uses old toilet paper rolls for a multitude of kids crafts. I'm not proud of the extreme tackiness. But what can I say, they are plentiful and free, why not put them to use. Here's the latest activity.

Armed with a push pin and a safety pin we punched holes in several old TP rolls. Some designs were, well, quite abstract. While others were made by following a penciled pattern.

And here is the final product all lit up with a mini flashlight.
We also pulled out a blue Wal-Mart Glow Stick to see how that would work . Not a bad varriation.

We then attempted to play the shadow game. This is really a fun one when you can get it to work right. Unfortunately our flashlights were uncooperative. Let me explain, first gather a bag of random, smallish items. Then in a darkened room have your child sit facing the same direction as you, but in front of you (so they can't see you), and guess the objects as you hold them up in front of the flashlight. Here's the thing, make sure your flashlight has the right shine circumference (is there a technical term for that? Someone help me out) otherwise there are double shadows or blurry images, etc. Our best light for this activity was a headlamp which was even better because I was left with two hands free. Unfortunately the bulb gave out on me. Boo hoo. But try this one next time the power goes out. It's fun.