Make some salt and glue fireworks! Kids will love this simple 4th of July activity. It’s such a fun art process and would actually be great for anytime. New Year’s Eve is another fun time to do art with fireworks.

I will say that the finished product is not as pretty when it dries as it is during the actual painting.  It was also a bit crumbly when dry.  So this art is all about the process and not necessarily the finished product!  However, the process was very engaging for kids, and it’s very good for fine motor skills.

Supplies Needed:

  • Black construction paper
  • Elmer’s school glue or similar (pva glue)
  • Salt
  • Water color paints

First, draw a fireworks design with white glue on a sheet of black construction paper.

You can do one firework at a time, or go ahead and fill the whole page. We chose to do one or two at a time.

Then sprinkle salt over the glue. Use a generous amount, and then shake off the excess.

Now it’s time to add some color!

Get your watercolor paints VERY wet. Well, just the colors you want to use.

Get your brush very wet with paint.

Then drip a little paint onto the salt and glue. The color will spread out on its own! It’s very fun to watch.

You can make the fireworks solid color, or a combination of colors.

The fireworks look really cool! It’s fun to experiment with different shapes.

It is definitely possible to use too much paint. If the glue gets too wet, there will be wet marks around the fireworks and the paper will get soggy.

If you have a trouble with soggy paper (we didn’t, but younger kids might) you can always switch to black or even white poster board.

Here is what the the fireworks look like when they are dry. Not terrible, but not quite as vibrant.

Still, a very fun project!