I can’t believe the 4th of July is already here! We normally celebrate it with some side walk chalk and swimming during the day followed with the firework show at night. This year we decided to add an art activity with all the other festivities. This “firework” painting project is a lot of fun and a must for any of those children who are not fond of the loud “BOOM” that comes along with fireworks.
My son normally will only watch fireworks from a window or with us covering his ears. He has always been more sensitive to any type of loud noise, and fireworks are definitely loud! This art activity got him thinking about how much fun and how pretty those fireworks can be.
Items needed for this activity:
- Paper plates
- Empty paper towel/toilet paper roll
- Paints (acrylic or any other type of washable paint)
- Scissors: for cutting the slits on the end of the cardboard rolls
- Optional: glittery puffy paint for added fun
Step 1:
Prepare the area for the art activity. This can be by setting it all up outside or by placing newspaper on a table where the painting will take place. I just went for it this time without any newspaper, and luckily it all came out well. 😉
Prep those ‘firework’ paint brushes. Take the empty paper towel roll and cut it in half to get 2 paint brushes. Next take the 2 cardboard rolls or just a toilet paper roll and cut 1/2″-1″ slits into one end. Then flare those strips outwards.
Step 2:
Allow your child to pick out the paint colors for their fireworks. Place these paint colors on a paper plate. I would suggest giving each child their own plate with paint. It is very difficult to not mix some of these paint colors by the end of the activity.
Step 3:
Place a clean paper plate in front of your child along with their ‘fireworks’ paint brush. To create the fireworks, dip the slits of the cardboard roll into the paint and gently press down onto the clean paper plate similar to when using a stamp. And ta-da!
My kids had a lot of fun with the 4th of July art project! As you can tell, my son imagined his fireworks as one big swirly mess.
