This galaxy spin painting art project is so fun! We love spin painting, it’s such a fun process art technique that kids will want to do over and over again. It’s a great art activity that can be used for preschool kids right up to tweens.
Galaxy Painting Art Project
This week I came up with the Galaxy Painting Art Project because we are studying outer space in science right now, and my daughter is very excited about science. She is always asking for more science activities. I am always looking for ways to make art with her and mascaraed it as other things she is more pumped about.
It turns out that if you have a mom who is constantly setting up art projects for you, asking you if you want to paint with her and seems to be somewhat obsessed with making art herself, you as a child of said artist mother, often prefer other things… like science. This painting session is a product of that fun dynamic.
Please don’t misunderstand, I love science, too! I also love that my daughter is her own person with her own interests. I just have only so many skills to offer…
Wherever you are in your outer space studies, whether you are studying them at all or you just thought this painting looked fun and like something that would occupy your child for a moment or two, I hope you enjoy this galaxy painting art project as much as we did.
- season 1, episode 1 “The Magic School Bus” (OG, not re-imagined) Ms. Frizzle and friends head to outer space (on Netflix)
- StoryBots (on youtube)
- head to solarsystem.nasa.gov AMAZING!
- As always, library books!
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Elements of Art we discussed:
- Canvas Panel
- Acrylic Paint (we used violet, magenta, titanium white, and phthalo blue, but you could use other colors if you prefer! Just scroll down on the product page to see the individual colors.)
- Paint Brushes
- Paint palette, plate or whatever you like to use to hold paint
- Toothbrush
- Cotton balls
- Water for cleaning brush
Step 1: Set up your work space for your Galaxy Painting Art Project.
Step 2: Next, we started painting with the light pink, but if you have chosen other colors that’s great. I would just recommend starting by blocking in some lighter colors. Usually in painting it’s best to work light to dark (simply because it’s easier to cover light colors with dark colors rather than dark with light).
Step 3: Add the darker magenta around the light magenta, blending with the brush a bit as you paint.
Step 4 + 5: Add the dark blue one section at a time, blotting with the cotton ball right after each section. Doing it quickly while the paint is wet helps create the fuzzy, cloudy texture.
Continue steps 4 and 5, mixing in violet when you feel led to add it, until your canvas is full and you like the painting.
Step 6: Go back over painting with cotton ball to keep creating the cloudy texture effect. The paint will mix in places which helps create the outer space look!
Step 7: Finally, use white paint on the tooth brush to “splatter” paint over the canvas. Adding water to the brush first makes for a better consistency.
Step 8: Admire the artwork! Your Galaxy Painting Art Project is complete! My daughter was so proud that she created this on her own.
Done!
I hope you enjoyed it! We’d LOVE to see YOUR Galaxy Painting Art Project! Tag me on social media and use the hashtag #amybaileyart or comment below to let me know how it went!
Make your own galaxy spin painting
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Supplies
- Old salad spinner you will use for crafts only (I got ours from Ikea but thrift stores are also a great place to look)
- Acrylic paint in blue, pink, purple, white
- Black cardstock
- Old toothbrush
- Paint palette or plastic lid
Instructions
1. First, get your black paper ready. You will need to use cardstock for this project, thinner paper doesn’t work as well in the salad spinner and could end up sticking to the sides. I cut our cardstock to 4.75 inches but depending on the salad spinner you have you may need to cut your paper to a slightly different size.
You want the paper to fill the bottom as much as possible, our paper was even touching the sides a bit. This will help to keep the paper at the bottom and not stick to the sides as you spin.
2. Place your paper in the bottom of your salad spinner. Using one color at a time, squeeze and drizzle your paint onto the paper. It’s fun to squeeze the paint in different patterns and see how it looks after your spin it!
Remind kids not to cover the paper completely with paint, you want to have lots of black showing through. We squeezed our paint in a circle pattern and back and forth across the paper, both made really cool designs.
Related: Spin Painting Canada Day Craft
3. Put the lid on the salad spinner and let kids have fun spinning their creations! You might need to hold the bottom of the salad spinner steady, especially for younger kids.
4. Open the lid to reveal your awesome galaxy spin art! Carefully take the paper out of the salad spinner and lay flat to dry.
5. Once your spin art is completely dry, you can add on the white splatters to complete the galaxy effect. Put some white acrylic paint in a palette or a dish and add just a drop or two of water and mix together. I find that adding a bit of water helps the paint to splatter more.
Use an old toothbrush and dip it into the paint. Hold the toothbrush over your galaxy spin painting with the bristles facing down and using your finger brush along the bristles, creating the splatters. Do this a few times until you get the desired look you’re after.
I love how this galaxy spin painting project turned out. We had so much fun making them and our little galaxy paintings look awesome! Take a look at this galaxy chalk pastel art for more fun galaxy craft ideas!
We love creating and exploring with different art supplies and techniques. If you are looking for more art projects to try, take a look at our ultimate collection of amazing art projects for kids!
More fun painting ideas for kids
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