Pop Rocks Painting for Kids

Pop rocks and kids’ painting? Yep. I made fizzing water colors the other week and was looking to up the artsy ante on bubbling, gurgling paint projects. So, I thought, “Why not paint with pop rocks? That’s sure to be like the fireworks of art projects!”

Ok, so not really. Hey, not every crafty idea works out. If you’re looking for paint that bubbles out of control, try the fizzy water colors. Really. It works much better. While the popping candy explodes in your mouth, it certainly doesn’t on paper. But, what it does do is make a musical noise (at least if you mix it with water in a foil cupcake tin). Instead of ditching the activity and marking it off as a failed art experiment, I went with a sensory approach.

Sensory, when used in reference to an art project, typically means getting tactile and exploring textures. You know, adding sand to finger paint, playing with squishable clay or some other hands-on play project. This time we’re going with a different sense – hearing. Other than the almost-silent swish of the brush or splat of a little hand pressing into finger paint, art is often very quiet. While the pop candy doesn’t really add to the visual look of the painting, it does make it sound anything but silent. You know the noise that it makes inside of your head when you eat the candy? It’s that same noise, but in water color paint.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        Pop rocks candy

·        A foil cupcake/muffin tin (or line cups with kitchen foil)

·        Water

·        Food coloring

·        A paintbrush

·        Paper

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Put a pinch of pop rocks into each section of the muffin tin. You can also use foil-covered cups. Why foil? The stiff metallic nature of it makes a perfect sounding board for the rocks to pop against—i.e., it makes it noisier.
 

2.     Drip a few drops of food coloring onto the rocks. Use one color per compartment.
 

3.     Add water and listen for the noise!

4.     Paint onto the paper. This is just like using regular water colors.
 

Explore and experiment with different surfaces instead of the foil. Compare the noises that the rocks make. You can also try dropping the candy onto a foil-covered piece of cardboard, and then add the water onto to it to make the fizz.

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