The Northern Lights are a magical natural wonder that kids find mesmerizing. Crafts around them let children play with color, light, and movement. The theme encourages experimentation with different materials. Every project glows in its own way.
It is a beautiful way to bring the arctic indoors. Winter magic at home.
I’ve rounded up a mix of northern lights art and craft ideas so you can pick one that suits your kids and the supplies you already have. Little ones might go straight for a project where they can blend colors with their fingers, while older kids might spend ages adding tiny trees beneath their sky. Take a scroll together and see which one they want to try first!
Can You Make a Night Sky Glow With Just a Piece of Chalk?
Give a child a piece of black paper and a stick of green chalk, and ask them to draw a ribbon dancing across the sky. Now for the fun part! Have them sweep the color upward with a fingertip and watch that bright line soften into a hazy glow.
It’s a lovely little trick to try before diving into these northern lights crafts for kids, and you can bet someone will want to see what happens when they add pink.
Winter Crafts Inspired by the Northern Lights
Bring the northern lights to your kitchen table! These easy northern lights crafts for kids are full of swirling greens, pinks, and purples, with plenty of ways to make a winter sky glow.
Learn how to make a 3D Polar Bear - Kids will love creating this Winter craft and delight at the polar bear popping from the page with a surprise wobble of the head.
Northern Lights Art for Kids. A easy winter themed kids art idea that preschoolers and kindergarteners will love.
This simple northern lights chalk art project for kids is so much fun and makes such a gorgeous glowing sky! Such a great winter craft project for kids!
Create Aurora Borealis Scrape Art Landscapes using our printable template. This is a fun Winter art idea for kids with stunning results!
Teach your kids about the northern lights (and science) with this hands-on activity
Teach your kids about the Aurora Borealis with this easy Glow In The Dark Northern Lights craft! Using the symmetrical paint splat technique and simple cardstock, it’s a sensory-friendly art project that’s perfect for winter afternoons
This week our family & I are heading to Iceland for vacation. My husband & I have been before & love it there. We are excited to take our daughter to see the geysers & walk the ice tunnel, but our main reason for going is to try our luck at seeing the Northern Lights. […]
Create this easy Northern Lights art project with your child. This hands on art activity uses pens and a water spray to create a gorgeous but easy craft.
Make this fun Northern Lights Craft. This fire craft is perfect for toddlers, preschool, and kindergarten. Free Printable Template.
Create a magical Reindeer Silhouette Painting with this easy step-by-step guide! Explore vibrant night skies, northern lights, and the art of positive and negative space.
Learn How to paint a Northern lights skyline with silhouette trees in acrylics for beginners. This tutorial will guide you through each step!
Enjoy an arty Winter with our How to Paint the Northern Lights tutorial - An Easy art idea for kids if all ages, complete with templates!
This is a dreamy way to create a beautiful Arctic sunset or Northern lights backdrop for your winter scenes. Materials: Igloo Template Bleeding Tissue Paper Watercolor Crayons Watercolor Paper Paintbrush, Water Aurora: A Tale of
An easy Norther Lights Craft for preschoolers, make some fabulous Northern Lights suncatchers with us today!
Print 22 free northern lights coloring pages featuring the aurora borealis over winter landscapes, cozy cabins, and arctic animals under the night sky.
Give Your Northern Lights a Place to Shine
One of my favorite things about an aurora borealis craft is how different the skies look when you line them up. One child might make a single streak of green over a snowy hill, while another fills the whole page with swirls of purple and blue. Hang the pictures side by side across a wall or window and let the kids decide what belongs beneath their lights. A tiny cabin? A forest of pine trees? A polar bear looking up?
If you’re choosing northern lights crafts for toddlers or preschoolers, keep it simple. Two colors and plenty of room to smudge them are enough. For older kids, turn it into a northern lights art lesson by inviting them to draw the same little landscape twice, once under a narrow band of light and once under a sky full of color. Ask which sky they’d rather stand beneath and why.
Northern Lights Craft Kits and Cozy Finds for Aurora Fans
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If your kids have fallen in love with those swirls of pink, purple, and green, a northern lights craft kit makes a lovely little winter gift. I especially like the idea of choosing something they can use once the crafting is done.
Make a Sparkly Northern Lights Coaster
These Sitsink Northern Lights Diamond Painting Coasters would be my pick for an older child who loves fiddly little projects. They get to build up the colors of the night sky one tiny gem at a time, and a coaster is a much more manageable first project than a whole diamond painting canvas. Pair a finished one with a mug and a sachet of hot chocolate for a sweet handmade gift.
Stitch or Paint an Aurora Sky
For kids who are getting into sewing, a northern lights cross stitch kit is a fun way to see how a few shades of thread can turn into ribbons of light. I’d look for a small landscape with a simple tree line for a first try. If your child would sooner reach for a paintbrush, browse the northern lights paint-by-number kits and let them choose the sky they’d most like to hang in their room.
Bring the Northern Lights to Story Time
A northern lights projector adds a little magic after the paints are packed away. Hang the kids’ finished artwork on the wall, dim the lights, and let them stretch out on the rug to watch the colors drift across the ceiling.
For older readers, pair that indoor light show with Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights, published in the US as The Golden Compass. It’s the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and Lyra’s journey into the far North makes it a lovely read-aloud for a winter evening under your very own aurora.
More Winter Art and Craft Activities
Still have the art supplies out? Keep the winter fun going with snowy scenes, colorful window art, and easy crafts for those chilly afternoons when everyone’s gathered around the kitchen table.
- Textured Winter Collage Craft
- 33 Cool Snowman crafts for kids
- Winter Snowflake Crafts For Kids
- 28 Easy And Cool Penguin Crafts For Kids
If these ideas caught your eye, pin this post to your winter crafts board on Pinterest so you can find it again the next time the kids ask, “What can we make today?”
