Fizzy Spider Web Art
There’s something magical about a spider web. A spider’s intricate designs are awe inspiring. Make your own spider web art. Combine science with art to make them colorful and fizzy. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.
Fizzy Spider Web Art
Supplies You’ll Need:
- Cardstock or watercolor paper
- Pencil
- Glue
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Water
- Washable liquid watercolors
- Pipettes or eye droppers
How to Make Fizzy Spider Web Art
Protect your work surface before starting. I placed freezer paper on top of a tablecloth. Mix up a small bowl of salt and baking soda. (I used more salt.) Mix each one of the liquid watercolors with vinegar and water. (The ratios aren’t really important. More liquid watercolors will result in brighter colors. More vinegar will result in more fizz. Dilute them with water to help you conserve your supplies.)
Draw a spider web. I drew the first ones for my kids so they could see how it was done. They drew the second ones.
Cover the spider web with glue.
Sprinkle the glue with the salt and baking soda mixture.
Now for the colorful part. Use pipettes or eye droppers to drop the liquid watercolors onto the spider webs.
I added the glue to Lily’s spider web art. I made the lines rather thin. It took a few tries for Lily to understand that the watercolors go on top of the spider web lines. At first, she wanted to drip paint everywhere.
We used 3 colors – red, yellow, and blue. As the watercolors are dripped onto the salt and baking soda, they fizz and the colors mix.
Aiden covered his spider webs with thicker lines of glue. This meant more salt and baking soda stuck. This allowed for more fizzing.
Whereas Lily dripped the watercolors wherever, Aiden purposefully chose where to place his colors.
When he was finished, he declared it a rainbow spider web.
This works more as a process oriented activity. The colors and fizz are wonderful to explore during the making process. My kids made several spider webs. After our spider webs dried, they weren’t very spectacular. We’ll have to change up the ratios of salt to baking soda and see if we can get a better product. Let me know how yours turns out!
Check out our Spider Math Games, too! Create a spider number line, practice counting, and get kids moving.
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This post was originally published on October 20, 2016.