This outer space art project is out of this world! It's filled with colorful planets, rockets, astronauts, satellites, aliens and anything else your young explorer can imagine. This project is a fantastic way to follow up a visit to a science museum or planetarium. It's also a great way to extend knowledge of our solar system while encouraging your child's imagination.
What You Need:
- Watercolor paper, 8.5" x 11"
- Crayons (take out the dark colors)
- Black tempera paint
- Water
- Paint palette
- Flat paint brush
What You Do:
- Share photographs of outer space with your child. You can look up images on the Internet of the solar system, satellites, astronauts, space stations, spaceships and galaxies. Also, take a look at artist renderings of aliens or outer space fantasy worlds to jump start her imagination. One very fun website to visit is the Nasa Kid's Club.
- On white paper have your child color her version of outer space using crayons. She should use vivid colors and press down hard with the crayons—solid shapes without any paper showing through will give the best results.
- Scoop out some black paint onto a paint palette and check its consistency. If it's thick, add a little bit of water. The paint should be similar to the consistency of hot chocolate.
- Mom or dad should help with brushing the black paint over the entire picture in even strokes going in the same direction. If the paint is too thick, it won't be resisted by the crayon and will turn the entire picture black. If the paint is too thin, it may go on as gray and require two coats of paint. It's best to test a small section before covering the entire picture.
- Allow the space exploration picture to dry.
Your child can make a whole collection of these space scenes to string up for an out of orbit effect!
By Ellen Dean
Ellen Dean has worked as an art educator in Thailand since 2005, working with both children and adults. She has also been a professional artist working in painting, sculpture and photography since 1996.
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