December 13, 2024 by Debbie Chapman
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Get your celebration on with these shaving cream fireworks! Add a burst of colour to your day with this super fun process art project, perfect for New Year’s Eve and other patriotic fireworks holidays, like the 4th of July.
With just shaving cream, a bit of paint, and some toothpicks, you can create colourful, swirly fireworks that look absolutely stunning! It’s a simple, hands-on activity that’s great for all ages, and it’s guaranteed to bring out lots of “oohs” and “ahhs”, just like real fireworks.
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How to Make Shaving Cream Fireworks
These shaving cream fireworks are super fun to make and they look beautiful on display! Create swirls of painted fireworks on a tray of shaving cream, and then transfer them to a piece of paper. So cool!
Author: Debbie Chapman
Materials:
- Shaving cream (the foam kind, not gel)
- Acrylic paint (multiple colours)
- Metallic acrylic paint (gold, silver; optional)
- White cardstock
Equipment:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Looking for more fireworks crafts and activities? Here's a few of our favourites:
Fork Painted Fireworks
Fireworks Salt Painting
Easy Fireworks Cupcakes
See AlsoShaving Foam Sensory Play Ideas – Play of the Wild10 Shaving Foam Sensory Activities for Children10 shaving foam activities for preschoolers | Famly43 Easy & Fun Shaving Cream Activities for KidsInstructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Spread shaving cream in a baking sheet
Fill a baking sheet with foam shaving cream.
Use a spatula to spread the shaving cream out evenly. The top should be as flat as possible.
Step 3: Add paint to the tray
Add a generous circle of paint to the shaving cream. Where you put the paint will be the center of your firework.
Continue adding different colours of paint across the tray, leaving some room between them.
Step 4: Spread the paint into firework bursts
Use a toothpick to drag the paint out and across the surface of the shaving cream, like rays on a sun.
Don't insert the toothpick too far into the shaving cream -- you want to stay close to the top so that you're moving the paint, rather than the shaving cream.
Continue spreading the paint out in bursts, starting from the center each time.
Make some straight lines and some curved. It's okay if some of the lines overlap.
Repeat, making the rest of the fireworks, using a new toothpick for each colour.
Step 5: Add metallic paint to the fireworks (optional)
Add metallic paint at the center of some (or all) of the fireworks.See Also100 Creative Uses for Shaving Foam in the Classroom
Spread the metallic paint out in the same way, creating a new layer on top.
Step 6: Make a print of your fireworks
Place a piece of cardstock on top of the paint. Press it down well, making sure the paper touches every part of the paint covered shaving cream.
Grab a corner of the paper and peel it up. Set the paper on a clean baking sheet and use a squeegee to remove the excess shaving cream and paint.
Your shaving cream fireworks art is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Make sure you keep paper towels or a damp rag handy while you make your shaving cream fireworks — it can definitely get messy!
- Use a thicker paper like cardstock or watercolour paper to make your shaving cream firework prints. Even cardstock will warp once it dries, but you can flatten it under a stack of books or cover the back with parchment paper and iron it on low heat to flatten it out.
What paint is best for making shaving cream fireworks?
We recommend using acrylic paint. It’s inexpensive (you can even find it at the dollar store!), it works well, and it’s available in so many different colours! You can also use washable tempera paint.
Or you can also use food colouring or liquid watercolour paint. Mix one part liquid watercolour with 3 parts water and use an eye dropper to drop the paint onto the shaving cream.
Liquid watercolour paint makes really bright and vibrant prints on the paper, but it’s a lot harder to control where it go. (It will easily spread out of place if the shaving cream isn’t completely flat — which is hard to do.)
Can I make shaving cream fireworks without a squeegee?
Yes, you can definitely make this fireworks art without a squeegee. After all, the fireworks look so colourful and fun in the tray, even if you don’t transfer them to paper!
If you do want to make prints of your fireworks, we recommend picking up a squeegee from the dollar store. You can use it to make lots of other cool squeegee art! Squeegees are easy to grip, and they give you a lot of control over the pressure used.
However you can still make this craft without a squeegee. Try using a plastic ruler or an expired gift card to scrape the paint off the cardstock.
A thin piece of cardboard (like from a cereal box) will also work in a pinch, but it can leave streaks and will get soggy after using it once or twice.
Can I use the shaving cream more than once?
Yes, definitely! Your first shaving cream print will look the best, but feel free to press 1 or 2 more papers into the paint and shaving cream.
The second print won’t show the fireworks as clearly and will be more smudged, but it still creates a fun and colourful piece of art!
How many trays of shaving cream fireworks can I make with one can of shaving cream?
This will depend, of course, on the size of your shaving cream can and the size of your baking tray. We were able to fill 3 large trays (12 by 18 inches) with an 11 ounce (311 gram) can of shaving foam.
Looking for a creative way to celebrate the New Year with kids? These shaving cream fireworks are just the thing! This art project is definitely a bit messy to make, but you only need a few simple dollar store supplies.
And honestly, these painted fireworks are just so fun to make! You can use your favourite colours and get super creative, so each tray of fireworks is unique!
Here’s even more fireworks craft ideas:
Glitter Fireworks Craft
Fireworks in a Vase
Paper Roll Fireworks Painting
Our bookLow-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
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About Debbie Chapman, the Author of this Post
I'm Debbie Chapman, founder of One Little Project and author of the book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids. I love creating fun and easy crafts and cooking up delicious recipes for my husband and 3 kids.
More by Debbie Chapman
Filed Under: Holidays, Just for Kids, Kids Crafts and Activities, Other Holidays and OccasionsTagged With: 4th of July, acrylic paint, art for kids, fireworks, New Year's, process art, shaving cream, squeegee, squeegee painting
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