We love bringing science and art together.
One FUN way to do this is to make paint explode. We have done this by making exploding paint bags, exploding sidewalk chalk, and flying chalk rockets. We recently tried something a little different and made glowing, exploding art! The results were out of this world!
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This activity was such a blast and the paint effects were seriously too cool! I couldn't look away! Are you ready to make paint explode?
Glowing & Exploding Art
Materials
Materials
Note: For the best effect you will want to use a blacklight for this activity. My girls love using these blacklight flashlights, and they are great for taking outdoors. You can also use a blacklight fixture if playing with your exploding paint inside.
Method
Begin my making glow-in-the-dark vinegar. Glowing vinegar is really easy to make. All you need is vinegar and neon paint.
- Mix a dollop of paint into 1 cup of vinegar until dissolved.
- Repeat these steps for each color of vinegar that you wish to make. (full tutorial here)
- Once the vinegar is mixed pour it into large zip-seal bags. You can fill the bags with more or less vinegar for varied explosions. No need to measure.
Method
- Mix a dollop of paint into 1 cup of vinegar until dissolved.
- Repeat these steps for each color of vinegar that you wish to make. (full tutorial here)
- Once the vinegar is mixed pour it into large zip-seal bags. You can fill the bags with more or less vinegar for varied explosions. No need to measure.
Next, take toilet paper squares and pour baking soda into the center. Then, fold the toilet paper into a ball, securing the baking soda inside. These are essentially your exploding paint bombs.
Now it is time to PLAY!
MAKING EXPLODING ART
To set off each exploding paint bag you will want to hold a baking soda bomb just inside the bag and then seal it as much as you can before letting the bomb go.
Double check to make sure that the bag is well sealed. Then, drop the bomb, quickly seal the bag the rest of the way, and quickly set the bag down. The bag will immediately begin to expand!
Each bag will continue to expand until it explodes, creating beautiful art effects!
Rosie loves exploding art and eagerly watched and waited for each bag to explode. She set off paint bag after paint bag until we were all out of vinegar.
Then, she had a blast playing in the colorful, glowing paint.
