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The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Printables / Solar system art

Solar system art

August 2, 2022 By Kate 17 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you.

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It’s easy to create solar system art using sponge painting and our latest printable template.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to paint all the planets of our solar system, plus the sun and the moon, using a masking technique.

The template is free for our newsletter members.

You might also like these sponge art and craft ideas

Solar system sponge art

Not long ago, we shared a set of solar system cards. I promised to share an art idea that relates to the cards and here it is: solar system sponge art.

According to my husband, I’m an expert at blowing my own trumpet when it comes to creative projects (and tasty dinners), haha. But I really do think these look cool, and when I think that I can’t help saying so.

This project is suitable for grades 1-6, although for younger kids you might need to use blu-tack or similar to keep the template in place when painting.

the sun, earth and moon art created using sponge art

Creating planet art is a good way to support learning about space and our solar system. You can make just one planet, or all of them. Hang them on the wall in order to help learn the order of the planets from the sun.

solar system art idea for kids with free printable template

To make life easy, the planet cards you need to use for reference in this project are also included in the download.

The sponge dabbing art technique we used is a little messy — so cover your table surface — but it’s a lot of fun. 

Here’s how to create planet art …

How to make solar system art

You will need:

  • The template, printed to ordinary white paper
  • The solar system planet cards for reference
  • Card stock in black or dark blue
  • A kitchen sponge cut into small pieces
  • Acrylic paint in the colour of the planets you wish to paint
  • Scissors
  • Q-tip / cotton bud
  • Glue stick

 

How to: 

Fold the planet template in half and cut out the circle. Discard the centre and use the outside as a mask.

planet art step 1

Place the mask over the top of your black sheet of card stock. This can be done by just holding the mask in place, being careful not to let it move or slip. However, you might find it easier to hold the masking sheet in place with a little bit of blu-tack or removable masking (painters) tape. The second option would be especially helpful if you’re working with younger kids.

Select a planet card to use as a reference. Use sponge squares to dab colour in roughly the same places and shades as the planet on your reference card.

planet art step 2

Peel the mask away. For the sun, dab a few extra sparks around the edge of the circle in pale yellow after removing the mask.

sun art project

When making Jupiter, add a swirl using a cotton bud to create it’s famous spot marking. Did you know that the spot is a storm so big that it could engulf all of Earth?

Jupiter art step 1

Dot stars around the planet using a Q-tip (cotton bud).

jupiter sponge art project step 2

When making Saturn and Uranus, wait for the circle shape of the planet to dry before using the ring mask to add the rings

Uranus art project

Uranus project complete

Glue the planet label on when you’re finished.

We were super happy with how our solar system art turned out. We hope you have fun making it too!

You might also like:

  • Make some galaxy painted pots using toothbrush splatter painting
  • Use sponge fragments to create colourful kaleidoscope prints
  • This sunset boat art idea combines a paint blending technique with paper mosaic to create a pretty water silhouette scene 
  • Use our printable template to make a 3D paper doodlebug craft

solar system art idea for kids using sponge painting and a masking technique

 

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Comments

  1. 1

    Peter says

    February 21, 2022 at 9:53 am

    Hi
    Could you please send me the solar system art pdf?
    The box above doesn’t seem to actually send it.
    Thanks
    Peter

    Reply
    • 2

      Kate says

      February 22, 2022 at 12:12 pm

      Did you check your spam filter Peter? I received your email and replied with the PDF file attached so you should definitely have it.

      Reply
    • 3

      Karina says

      September 27, 2022 at 10:24 am

      Necesitaría el pdf delnaistema solar por favor si lo comparten

      Reply
      • 4

        Kate says

        September 29, 2022 at 5:22 am

        Fill out the form in the blog post to get the template

        Reply
  2. 5

    Htoi San Ing says

    May 23, 2022 at 2:51 am

    Could you please send me the templates ?

    Reply
    • 6

      Kate says

      May 26, 2022 at 5:26 am

      You need to put your address into the email form and the templates will be emailed to you

      Reply
  3. 7

    Ms. Patton says

    June 21, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    Thank you for this AMAZING resource!! My 2nd graders were so engrossed in their learning and painting. Love it when they have fun while learning.

    Reply
    • 8

      Kate says

      June 23, 2022 at 9:47 am

      I love getting comments like this. Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂

      Reply
  4. 9

    Elyse says

    July 9, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    Could you please email me the template? I put my details in above but it did not come through. Thank you.

    Reply
    • 10

      Kate says

      July 10, 2022 at 5:52 am

      Hi, did you check your spam filter?

      Reply
  5. 11

    Danielle says

    July 21, 2022 at 9:36 am

    Hi,

    Could you please email me the template?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • 12

      Kate says

      July 25, 2022 at 5:56 am

      Hi Danielle, you need to put your email address in the form provided in the post, then the template will be delivered automatically

      Reply
  6. 13

    Lonnie says

    July 23, 2022 at 8:41 am

    Please email me the template. My 4 year old is obsessed with the solar system,he would love doing this project.

    Reply
    • 14

      Kate says

      July 25, 2022 at 5:55 am

      Hi Lonnie, the email is sent to you automatically when you put your email adress in the form provided

      Reply
  7. 15

    Myriam says

    September 29, 2022 at 2:13 am

    Hello !
    It’s so nice ! Could you send me the template please ?
    Thank you very much !

    Reply
    • 16

      Kate says

      September 29, 2022 at 5:20 am

      Hi Miriam, you need to put your email in the subscription box and the download will be sent to you automatically. Subscription is free.

      Reply
  8. 17

    Siena says

    November 9, 2022 at 8:46 am

    Amazing!

    Reply

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  • Kate GronoKate GronoCrazy Craft Fanatic

    I’m basically a big kid who never grew up and still loves to muck around with paint, glitter, glue and toilet rolls. With the crafts shared here on this website I’m hoping to give other parents and carers inspiration to get crafty with their kids at home – make our projects, or use them as a source of inspiration to spark ideas of your own. When it comes to crafting no rules apply!

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