Space Art

It’s our last week of storybook summer and we sending off this year series with heading out of this world – whether it’s off into space, through to the realm of princesses and dragons or into a magical fantasy land it’s unlikely to be from this planet. Today we’re welcoming back Kate from Kitchen Floor Crafts who joined us last year for our storybook summer and she’s sharing an art project for the Magic School Bus: Lost in Space book.

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

This is our second year participating in Rainy Day Mum’s Storybook Summer, and we’re always excited to be part of some of the incredible ideas shared during this series. For our “Out of this World” post we decided to think about moving off our world and into outer space.

The Magic School Bus: Lost in Space

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For quite a while now both of my boys have been really interested in Magic School Bus books. They love the story, adventure, and knowledge they gain with each book. This is especially true of “The Magic School Bus: Lost in Space.” While the book was originally written in 1992, it was recently released again with updated information. My boys find it exciting that they can learn about the different planets and their features as they also listen to the tale of the class lost in space without Ms. Frizzle.

For our project we decided on a simple extension: watercolor and craypas painting. This is one of our favorite simple ways to create a colorful piece of artwork. It doesn’t take a lot of materials and is easy to create.

We have included affiliate links to some of the products and resources as an associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.

Materials needed for Space Canvas Art

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

Creating Space Art

After reading the story we talked about each planet, what it looked like, and any specials features it had. We also talked about other objects the kids and Ms. Frizzle had observed in space.

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

Big Brother then began sketching out the planets in order from the sun to the outer planets. He thought carefully about each one and what colors it would be. He thought a little bit about size too, but that is still a concept that is a little big for him right now.

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

When he was done he water colored the entire paper dark gray. I had added a little water to the container before painting, so it spread on thinly enough to look like sky but not too dark to block out his drawings. The really cool thing about using watercolors and oil pastels is that the oil pastel repels the water, but the water will still fill any unpainted spaces, even those small spaces between lines.

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

We let the paper dry flat and then we could really enjoy his artwork. He loved sharing the names of each planet he had drawn, which he is getting better at remembering.

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

An easy and colorful storybook extension with some science understanding thrown in!

Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

Space Themed Printables in Store Now!


More posts from Kate

Homemade Race Car Coloring Mat

Magnetic Marble Painting

Clothespin Dragonflies


Kitchen Floor Crafts

Kate has been an elementary teacher for the last nine years in a small, rural public school. Since having her second child in 2013, Kate has balanced teaching part time and being home with her own kids, Big Brother (5) and Little Brother (2), as much as she can.

A lover of crafts, literature,baking,learning and fun Kate works to combine all those things into the experiences she creates for her kids and their family time together.

She started Kitchen Floor Crafts with the hope of sharing some of the things she loves and giving other parents simple, easy ideas of things to do with their own families.


Outer space art project for kids, simple art techniques to produce a solar system picture based on The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System Book

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