Outer Space Painting

What You Need:

• Watercolor paper, 8.5" x 11"
• Crayons (take out the dark colors)
• Black tempera paint
• Water
• Paint palette
• Flat paint brush

What You Do:

1. Share photographs of outer space with your child. You can look up images of the solar system, satellites, astronauts, space stations, spaceships, and galaxies. Also, take a look at artist renderings of aliens or outer space fantasy worlds to jump start your child's imagination. 
2. On white paper, have your child color their version of outer space using crayons. They should use vivid colors and press down hard with the crayons—solid shapes without any paper showing through will give the best results.
3. Scoop out some black paint onto a paint palette and check its consistency. If it's thick, add a little bit of water. The paint should be similar to the consistency of hot chocolate.
4. Help your child brushing the black paint over the entire picture in even strokes going in the same direction. If the paint is too thick, it won't be resisted by the crayon and will turn the entire picture black. If the paint is too thin, it may go on as gray and require two coats of paint. It's best to test a small section before covering the entire picture.
5. Allow the space exploration picture to dry.

Your child can make a whole collection of these space scenes to string up for an out-of-orbit effect!