Fireworks are such a dynamic and exciting part of summer festivities, but it's always a bit of a letdown when the show is over. Keep them alive all year long by creating watercolor fireworks. It's a fun, quick project that's guaranteed to get a few laughs while you get your creative juices flowing, and it may even increase your lung capacity!
What You Need:
- Watercolor paints
- Paintbrushes, small to medium sizes
- Small cup or bowl for water
- Light-colored paper (either drawing paper or watercolor paper)
- Straws
What You Do:
- Begin by gathering your materials and preparing the workspace. When working with paint, it's always a good idea to cover the work table with newspaper or a plastic tablecloth.
- Have your child wet her paintbrush thoroughly, and swirl it in the color of her choice, making sure to create a pool of paint.
- Encourage her to liberally spread the paint in a pool on her paper in any shape she likes.
- Now for the fun! Have her place the straw in her mouth and hold it just a few millimeters above the paper.
- Ask her to begin blowing through the straw gently while holding it over a pool of paint. The paint should begin to move around the page, creating streaks that look like fireworks.
- Have her continue blowing through the straw, following each trail of paint until there is no more liquid to work with.
- She can add more paint pools if she likes, or set the painting aside to dry.
Once you get the hang of the blowing technique, you can experiment with blowing harder to get a different effect. Try to recreate the grand finale, using as many colors as you can to fill the page.
By Grier Cooper
Grier Cooper is a California-based writer, photographer and dancer. She writes fiction and non-fiction for both children and adults and has many years experience as a child educator and a mother.
Add your own comment