Aurora Borealis Craft for Children

Northern Canada is one of the best places in the world to view the Aurora Borealis. The borealis looks like colored lights dancing in the night sky and is caused by collisions between electrically charged sun particles that enter the earth’s atmosphere. The closer you are to the magnetic poles, the more intense the Aurora Borealis is. The borealis in the Northern Hemisphere is know as the Aurora Borealis, and in the Southern Hemisphere, it is called the Aurora Australis. The most common colors viewed are light green and pink, but there are a wide range of colors including red, yellow, green, blue and purple. The borealis can appear as rippling waves, arcs, scattered clouds, or just a glow in the night sky. Below we are sharing a craft using construction paper, chalk or pastels so you can create your own Aurora Borealis Craft!

Materials Needed for your Aurora Borealis Craft

1 piece dark blue and 1 piece black construction paper
white acrylic or tempera paint (optional)
old toothbrush or stiff bristle paint brush (optional)
colored chalk or pastels
kleenex or paper towel (optional)
scissors
glue stick

Directions for Your Aurora Borealis Craft

Look at photos of the Aurora Borealis in books or online. There are also many lovely YouTube videos. This will help inspire you when you make your Aurora Borealis Craft.

Optional: If you would like to add stars to your sky, dip an old toothbrush or a stiff bristle paint brush in a small amount of white acrylic or tempera paint. Rub your thumb over the top of the brush, causing tiny splatters of paint to get on your dark blue paper. (You may want to practice this technique on a scrap piece of paper first.) Allow the paint to dry completely.

Using the side of your pastels or chalk, drag the color across your paper in streaks, waves or clouds. Add colors to mimic a real Aurora Borealis. (Pastels 1st photo, chalk 2nd.)

Using kleenex, a small piece of paper towel or your finger tips, gently blend your colors. To make the colors “streak”, pull a kleenex across your paper in strips from the top of the page to the bottom.

Using white chalk on a piece of black construction paper, draw a silhouette landscape which can be a hill, trees or animals. Cut out the silhouette.

Put glue on the back of your silhouette. (The back is the side with your white chalk markings.) Glue it to the front your Aurora Borealis drawing matching the bottom of the papers.