Because they're so downright messy, I don't have students use soft pastels for very many lessons. However, there's no denying how right they are for certain subjects. Case in point: the Northern Lights. I've seen several examples of lessons like this on Pinterest and finally decided to let my 5th graders give one a go. As usual, they didn't disappoint! We started by drawing simple overlapping hills along the bottom of our black 12x18 construction paper, leaving thick lines between the different hills to emphasize depth, and filling in the hills with white oil pastel. In the same session, we used white acrylic paint and small brushes to make stars in our skies. In the second session, after a quick demonstration of how to apply and smear the soft pastels, and with a background video of different Northern Lights from around the world, students added the Northern Lights to their paper. Yes, I'm biased, but I think these came out really nice!

Northern Lights Art for Kids. A easy winter themed kids art idea that preschoolers and kindergarteners will love.

This northern lights chalk art project for kids is so simple yet so beautiful! There is something so fun about working with chalk on a black piece of construction paper! It's almost magical that the chalk begins to look like a glowing light on the paper! My poor 8 year old was home with a cold the other day and was happy to help me figure out the best way to make northern lights. (Plus it helped me get her away from the TV for awhile.) We sat together on my office floor and tried a few different methods -

Exploring Northern Lights with preschoolers is like discovering these bright phenomena all over again. To the Laboratory! Exploring the Sun: Sunset and Sunrise.

Because they're so downright messy, I don't have students use soft pastels for very many lessons. However, there's no denying how righ...