About This Project

A 15–45 minutes craft for ages 3–10, using supplies you likely already have — Watercolor Paint, Plastic Cups, and Paint Pens.

GlueStick supports kids from setup to cleanup. After they choose a project, we guide them through gathering the supplies, making it, and cleaning up when they're done. We'll even help them share it safely with trusted family and friends.

Ad-free and kid-safe library — designed by a mom who wants kids to explore and create independently.

Project Tags
  1. 1

    Find Supplies

    Do you have everything you need?
    Create a free GlueStick account to track supplies and see if you have what you need at a glance. Leave your kids tips about where supplies are stored in your household so they can set up and clean up their creative spaces independently.
    00:00
    A cartoon of Watercolor Paint
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Plastic Cups
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Paint Pens
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Paint Brushes
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Straws
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Water
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Paper
    Unknown cupboard quantity You have: unknown
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    Make Blown Paint Fireworks

    Your creative buddy says:
    "Are you as excited to make this as I am?"

    Step 1: Write the year on your paper

    Use a paint pen to write the upcoming year. A paint pen or something that is not water-based is best. If you use a washable marker, your watercolor paints will smudge the numbers.

    Step 2: Make a splat

    May need grown-up help
    To make your first firework, add a large drop of watercolor paint to your paper with your paint brush. Watercolor paper works best, but regular printer paper will also work for this project.

    Step 3: Blow the paint

    Hold your straw directly above the drop of paint, very close to the paper but NOT touching it. Blow once, very hard. This sill make all the paint move outward to make a firework shape.

    Step 4: Practice makes perfect

    It can be tricky to get the hang of blowing the paint around. We recommend a practice sheet. This is what our practice sheet looked like. As you can tell, it has a lot less well-made fireworks than our final project.

    Step 5: Color mixing tip

    Water color paints have a tendancy to get mixed together because of rinsing with unclean water, eventually turning every paint color a dirty brown shade. To help prevent this, grab two plastic cups. Fill each about half full with water. Make one cup the "cool water cup." Keep the other one for "warm colors.' Whenever you use green, blue, or purple paint, make sure to rinse your paintbrush in the green donainer. Red, orange, and yellow should be rinsed in the first cup. This isn't a foolproof method, but it's a lot better than mixing blue into your orange and making brown!

    Step 6: Fill the page

    Fill the page with as many fireworks as you'd like. Then, put it somewhere safe and flat until it is dry. Happy New Year!
  3. 3

    Clean up

    Put things away so your space is tidy for next time.

    Tidy up our space

    Put away our supplies

    Check off each supply when it is put away — and any clean-up tips underneath are done too. You might find a fun surprise!

    • A cartoon of Watercolor Paint
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Plastic Cups
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Paint Pens
      Where they belong:
      • — Don't forget! Replace paint marker caps. You'll know they're on tight if you hear them click!
    • A cartoon of Straws
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Water
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Paper
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Paint Brushes
      Where they belong:
      • — Don't forget! Rinse all the paint out of your paint brushes.

    Update what we have left

    Did we run out of anything while making this project? Update our supply cupboard so that we know exactly what we have for next time.

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  4. 4

    Save

    Your creative buddy says:
    "I love how you stuck with your creative ideas!"

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