DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Paper Plate Shooting Star Craft
Contributed by Kaitlyn Guenther

When you see a shooting star in the sky, you're actually seeing a really fast space rock (called a meteor) burning up as it enters Earth's atmosphere. Different chemicals in the rock make the meteor burn a different colour, which is why not all shooting stars are the same colour. Different speeds can make the meteors burn in different colours too, so sometimes shooting stars even change colours as they travel across the sky!
This fun and interactive paper plate craft lets you create a colour changing shooting star of your own! Kids can really let their creativity shine with the colours they choose. And don't forget... make a wish!
Materials:
- a variety of colourful paints and paintbrushes (use your imagination and your favourite colours),
- black and white paints and paintbrushes,
- two paper plates,
- brass paper fastener,
- scissors,
- pencil,
- paper,
- printer
Instructions:
Paint the bottom of one paper plate black and once it dries splatter white paint onto the bottom like a starry night sky.
- Paint the bottom of the other paper plate with all the colours you want. Feel free to get as creative as you want and use your favourite colours and painting techniques (splatter paint, finger painting, etc).
Once the paper plates are dry you can cut the shooting star(s) out of the starry night paper plate:
- Print out our template for several different shooting stars and sizes.
- Cut out the shooting star(s) you want to use.
- On the top (unpainted side) of the paper plate trace the shooting star template.
- TIP: Make sure you don't trace a shooting star right in the center of the paper plate so you can connect the paper plates later.
- Cut out the shooting stars (this part is difficult so should be left for an adult or older child, who is confident with their scissor skills).
Layer the paper plate so that the starry night paper plate is on top of the colourful paper plate (with the bottoms up).
- Attach a brass fastener to the center of the two paper plates to keep them together.
Now you can spin the starry night paper plate and as you spin it the shooting stars will change colours.
Templates:
- Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
- Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).
Shooting Stars : (B&W)
Print friendly version of these instructions