We decided to paint with a bang to help us mark the quickly approaching New Year’s Eve celebrations. My kids love nothing more than teaming up fun new paint supplies and a blank canvas, especially when that canvas is black and the art supplies are some of OOLY’s most shimmery and sparkly products! Read on to find out how my kids lit up the night sky with simple and playful marking techniques to create a dazzling fireworks scene.
Next, they decided to add blobs of color at the end of the lines of light to show how the fireworks were starting to explode. The metallic sparkle of the gel crayons was perfect for this part of the project. Both 2 year old baby sis and 6 year old big bro were able to smoothly glide the crayons over the black canvas, making bold and colorful markings. The twist up barrels on these gel crayons also kept their hands surprisingly clean for such a messy project.
As time went on they got more confident and really started to make the fireworks spread over the canvas. They loved that the Dot-A-Lot paint had a 3-D effect, it made it look like a real fireworks. Both the neon and pearlescent colors really popped on the black background.
The Pixie Paste was such a novel texture to add. It was especially great for my toddler because it really didn’t matter about her marks being neat. She could splatter away and it looked great regardless!
I cannot tell you how proud these two little artists were of their celebratory night sky masterpiece. And what I love most is that we now have a creative keepsake from our year. I wonder what next year’s NYE canvas will look like…
- Lucy Baker
Materials Needed:
- Black Canvas (we used one sized 12” by 16”)
- Rainbow Sparkle Watercolor Gel Crayons
- Dot-A-Lot Neon Brights and Pearlescents
- Mini Dots Pixie Paste Glitter Glue
- Lil’ Paint Brush Set
Step 1: Fire Those Lights Up in The Sky!
For the first part of making the fireworks, we used the Rainbow Sparkle Watercolor Gel Crayons. I sat with my kids and looked at some images of fireworks and we talked about the marks we would need to make on the canvas. To begin, the kids wanted to make long colorful lines showing how the fireworks were soaring up to the sky.
Next, they decided to add blobs of color at the end of the lines of light to show how the fireworks were starting to explode. The metallic sparkle of the gel crayons was perfect for this part of the project. Both 2 year old baby sis and 6 year old big bro were able to smoothly glide the crayons over the black canvas, making bold and colorful markings. The twist up barrels on these gel crayons also kept their hands surprisingly clean for such a messy project.
Step 2: Spread The Shower of Sparkles!
This was definitely their favorite part! The Dot-A-Lot paint is so cool, it literally adds another dimension to painting! The kids experimented with many different ways to make light blobs and sprays, moving their hands in different ways as they were squeezing the bottles. This was great for their fine and gross motor skill development, not to mention fun for them.
As time went on they got more confident and really started to make the fireworks spread over the canvas. They loved that the Dot-A-Lot paint had a 3-D effect, it made it look like a real fireworks. Both the neon and pearlescent colors really popped on the black background.
Step 3: Make That Night Sky Shimmer!
The final process to their firework-filled night sky was to add some shimmer using the Pixie Paste Mini Dots. These are little pots of clear glue with various small sequins mixed in. We spoke about the type of marks the kids wanted to make and they decided the best idea was to make brush splatters. They carefully chose their color arrangements and got to work leaving glittery marks throughout the sky for this dazzling fireworks scene.
The Pixie Paste was such a novel texture to add. It was especially great for my toddler because it really didn’t matter about her marks being neat. She could splatter away and it looked great regardless!
I cannot tell you how proud these two little artists were of their celebratory night sky masterpiece. And what I love most is that we now have a creative keepsake from our year. I wonder what next year’s NYE canvas will look like…
- Lucy Baker
