The northern lights. One of natures most beautiful art displays. I saw a small glimpse of it once as a child, but we were not far enough north to fully appreciate it’s full impact. Seeing it in it’s full glory is on my bucket list for sure!
Aurora borealis happens when particles from the sun make their way into the earth’s magnetic shield during a solar flare. Those particles then collide with atmospheric atoms and molecules. With each collision comes a little burst of light or photons and that is what makes up the aurora. It is not something you can plan for as solar flares are not predictable. Your best bet is to be in the arctic circle or the “Auroral Oval” between midnight and 2am!
Northern Lights Art Project
Occasionally I attempt an art or craft project that is way beyond Martin’s ability level- this was one such project. He still really enjoyed it and loved showing it off plus he learned about the aurora borealis!
Need:
- Black paper
- additional paper
- chalk or pastels (it needs to be able to smear)
- Start by cutting or ripping your skyline silhouette.
2. Tape the landscape silhouette in place at the bottom of the page- be sure that it does not move till you are done.
3. Using chalk or pastels color the edge of the added paper as well as a few streaks in the sky.
4. Next smear the color up, all of it. You can use your fingers or a tissue.
5. Finally remove the silhouette paper (unless you took it off in the beginning like Martin …sigh). And you are all done!
You can take it one step further and before removing the silhouette, splatter the picture with white paint to represent the stars in the night sky!
