A very wide variety of age groups attend weddings these days, and children are no exception. While the prospect of having sparklers at your wedding is becoming more and more popular, one can’t ignore the concerns that many parents will have when it comes to their children using wedding sparklers. Fortunately, there is a very simple and inexpensive way to build a device for protecting children’s hands from sparklers so that they can participate in the fun safely and you can breathe easy knowing that they won’t get burned.
Materials for Protecting Children’s Hands from Sparklers
Constructing the device that will protect your children’s hands from the burning sparklers is very simple and can be done on the fly; though building some in advance for use at a wedding is probably the best idea. First, we will need to gather a few items listed below:
- Plastic Cups (Like Red Solo Cups)
- Felt Tip Pen
- A knife, scissors, or other sharp object
- Stickers or Finger Paints (for decorating, optional)
Building the Cup for Protecting Children’s Hands from Sparklers
Once you have gathered all the necessary items together, you can start to build the sparkler protectors. I have outlined the steps below and also added some helpful tips that I’ve learned from my own experience build these for my wedding.
- Using the felt tip pen, make a small dot on the bottom of each plastic cup in the very center.
- Next, make a small hole where you marked each cup using the knife, scissors, or other sharp object. The hole should be just big enough to slide the wire from a sparkler through, but not big enough for any sparks to find their way into the cup. One method I found that is very fast is to use a very small drill bit. The bonus with that method is that you can put the hole in several plastic cups at once.
- Optionally, you can use finger paints or stickers to allow your children to customize their sparkler protectors. This can be a fun art project that they will enjoy, and also make each protector unique and identifiable.
- Place you child’s hand in the cup, slide a sparkler wire through the hole and into their firm grip. You can now safely light the wedding sparklers without fear that any of the sparkles will fall down and burn their hands.
That’s it! You have now successfully turned plastic cups into items that will work perfectly for protecting children’s hands from sparklers. This method is good for more than just weddings; it is a great device for any celebration involving sparklers such as the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve.
Safer Alternatives to Using Sparklers
Of course, there are many great alternative to using sparklers that will ensure your child’s safety. First off, you could consider the benefits of giving them LED sparklers instead. Since there isn’t an open flame, it eliminates the chances that they might get injured. Additionally, you can make little ribbon wands that are also completely safe. Best of all, they can be a fun craft project for the whole family!
Whether you choose LED sparklers or decide to build the cup device, safety is always paramount. Please feel free to share this tutorial with any other parents you know. Hopefully, safety is no longer too concerning to prevent children from being able to use sparklers.
