Constellation Activity for Kids {Salt Painting!}

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I have yet to meet a kiddo (or adult for that matter) who is not fascinated by space. This constellation activity encourages children to explore beyond our world. The printable constellations are great for teaching, story telling and just growing the imagination. And salt painting is super satisfying as you watch the colors spread through the constellation image.

Make Even More Crafts with Your Kids (You’ll be so happy you did)

Save these Activities About the Stars for later. Pin them to your favorite Pinterest board…

SUPPLIES FROM THE BAG

Elmer’s glue
Paints (colors of your choice)
Q-tips
Salt (not in your bag, but every home has some)
Newspaper
Little cups or something to hold your watered down paint
Cardstock or construction paper
Constellation printables

Around here we keep things SIMPLE by doing more with less! Every craft project is created from the same master list of supplies so that you can actually fit crafting with your family into your hectic life without it feeling like another thing that you have to cross off of the to-list. Find your joy in creating together. Just fill your bag, and you’re ready.

CONSTELLATION ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Use the Constellation Printables

Print out the Constellation printable of your choice (Choose from constellations like Ursa Major, Orion, Leo, Scorpius and more!). It works best if you print onto cardstock if you have it.
OR use the printables as a template for marking the stars onto a black or dark blue piece of construction paper for a different look.

Each printable constellation has 2 versions, one with just the stars and the other with the connecting lines that make the formation of the constellation. There are 22 templates in all!

Step 2: Glue

Place the printed constellation on top of newspaper
Connect the stars (or go over the lines) to form the constellation with Elmer’s glue. Be aware that if you are using a darker paper, there will be some “bleeding” of the glue which makes the area around the constellation look like it has a kind of “glow”.

Step 3: Add the Salt

Sprinkle salt over the constellation and shake off the excess onto the newspaper (like when you put glitter on a project). A fine salt works best.
Allow the glue to dry. *You may want to let it sit overnight).

Step 4: Paint

Water down a couple of your favorite paints so that they are thin and runny.
*If you prefer, you can use water colors or food coloring mixed into water if those are things that you have in your house. Though these items are not in your prepared bag of craft supplies.
Use a q-tip to apply each color to your painted salt constellation to make it as colorful as you want
Allow the paint to dry

Watch the How To Video for this Constellation Craft

Kids absolutely love learning about everything space related. Who doesn’t really? Just this morning my husband and I were watching a show about unexplained phenomena seen by astronauts through the years. (So cool!) Constellations offer us a unique way for to view the stars. Here are more constellation activity ideas from “How We Learn”.