There are a few steps to this project and can be used for any grade level. I will have to break it up to two posts so that it will all fit!
Items needed:
1 large sheet of heavy mylar
11 x 17 sheets of white and black construction paper
paint - blue, green, yellow, red and brown
exacto knife
yellow or white colored pencil
glue
scissors
Using your colored pencil, draw various sized circles on the paper to create the different planets. I found some pictures online of how they look size wise next to each other for a frame of reference.
On your piece of mylar (or you can use plexiglass, or your table) squirt on green and blue paints. I had two different blues so decided to try both.
Smear the paint together in a back and forth motion. This will create waves or lines. Kids will not do it that way but we can always hope right! Not as important on the blue and green planets. You can use your hands to paint - as most kids love to do, or use a brush for those who hate getting paint on their hands!
Now place a sheet of white paper over the top of the paint to make a print. (This is a very fundamental way to screen print! And fun too!)
Slowly peel back the paper from the mylar.
You will have a print of what was on the mylar. Hang the paper to dry.
Do the exact same thing with the red, yellow and brown. Brown is for mercury and brown and yellow work for Saturn with a little red thrown in.
Make a print and hang up to dry.
Now you will have extra paint on the mylar, you can draw patterns in the paint, stamp it, use different materials to create all kinds of textures and pull more prints. We will do this for the kids and after they are dry we can use them in another project. Or you can cut up the colored paper into squares and create mosaic pictures using the different colors! Endless possibilities!