Coffee filter art is always so fun with the kids. They can draw practically anything they want on the coffee filters, and it will look amazing.
After we made the beautiful coffee filter butterflies and fall leaves, my kids are very familiar with coffee filter art. Therefore, they were super excited when I took out the coffee filters during space week!
Kids are fascinated by the different colors and patterns of all the planets. The coffee filter planet suncatchers will allow the kids to study each planet in-depth to decide what colors to draw on the coffee filters. Then the water will do all the work to make the planets nice and pretty!
How to Make Coffee Filter Planet Suncatchers
Materials:
- Coffee filters
- Washable Markers
- Spray bottle or dropper
- Baking sheet
- Scissors
- Tape
Instructions:
1. Flatten out a coffee filter. I suggest putting a scrap piece of paper behind it in case there is bleeding.
2. Examine the planets to determine what colors you should use for each.
3. Using the washable markers, draw the patterns on each planet. Leave a little gap between the colors to allow for the colors to run together and mix. Here are some examples:
4. Place the coffee filter on the baking sheet and spray it with a water bottle. If you don’t have a water bottle at home, you can use a dropper instead of what we did in the coffee filter fall leaves activity.
5. Repeat with all the planets.
6. Allow the coffee filter to dry completely.
7. Draw the outline of each planet on the corresponding coffee filters. Make sure you try to keep their sizes proportional, and don’t forget the ring on Saturn!
8. Using small pieces of tape, arrange the coffee filter planets on your window.
The coffee filter planet suncatchers turned out so beautiful. When you are coloring the coffee filters, you wouldn’t think that they look anything like the planets. However, thanks to capillary action, the colors spread out in the coolest way.
They make such pretty suncatchers and make a great decoration for your homeschool room. Who needs to buy educational posters of the solar system when you can just make your own? You can also make a 3D model of the solar system easily with your kids to really reinforce the recognition of the planets and their order away from the Sun.
Colors of the Planets
I encourage you to discuss what colors you should use for each planet with your child. Because we anticipate the colors to blend together, some of the planets had different colors than the ones we chose for the 3D solar system.
We also had a lot more options when it comes to the different shades of colors. We bought a 60 colors marker set so there are various shades of yellow, brown, blue, etc. If you don’t have many choices, just do the best you can to match the planets’ colors. Trust me, they will turn out cool anyway because of the capillary action.
MERCURY: Grey, blue, yellow
VENUS: Orange, red, yellow
EARTH: Blue, green (leave more space between the colors since you want to have some white for the clouds)
MARS: Red, dark red, black
JUPITER: Orange, various light brown shades
SATURN: Yellow, tan, brown
URANUS: Aqua, teal
NEPTUNE: Light blue, dark blue
For more out of this world fun, check out:
