Fireworks Activities and Books for Kids

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Fireworks and Firecrackers are used by many different cultures all over the world to celebrate important holidays and events.

Whether it’s New Year’s or the Fourth of July your child is going to hear the POW and see the dazzling displays of fireworks at some point. Nearly every major holiday from Chinese New Year to Guy Fawkes Day includes these exploding creations.

But where did the humble firecracker get its start?

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Fireworks Activities and Books for Kids

A Little Pyrotechnics History

China some 2,000 years ago.

BOOM!

A cook in a kitchen accidentally mixed sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter.

Well, that’s the legend anyway.

And apparently, those ingredients were common in kitchens back then….

HISS!

When these ingredients were contained in a hollow tube such as bamboo and burned… you got a firecracker!

POP!

It was believed that the loud BANG of firecrackers frightened away evil spirits and ghosts. Thus, they became an essential part of Chinese celebrations.

Of course, the powder mixture of firecrackers evolved. The Chinese also created gunpowder.

Marco Polo is credited with bringing gunpowder to Europe. However, the Italians were the first in Europe to use black powder to create fireworks.

Shakespeare mentions fireworks in his writings and Queen Elizabeth I enjoyed them so much that she created the position of “Fire Master of England.”

Fireworks Activities and Books for Kids

Firework Kits for Hands-On Learning

Your kids can learn more about the chemical compound science behind fireworks with Home Science Tools Rainbow Fire Kit.

This is a great hands-on way to explore the atomic composition of chemical compounds in fireworks! This kit is great for grades 6 and up.

This Spectroscope Analysis Kit helps your kiddos explore and measure the spectrum of light produce from different elements!

Use your spectroscope to watch elements burn with brightly-colored flames, each producing a unique light spectrum.

Firework Salt Painting

For salt painted firecrackers you’ll need:

table salt
paper (the darker the paper the better the fireworks show up! Black is best, but the darkest I had was grey)
watercolors
paint brushes
white glue
cookie sheet or pan (for collecting the extra salt)

Start by designing your fireworks with the white glue.

Next, you’ll cover your glue designs with a generous covering of table salt.

Shake off the excess salt into the cookie tray and get your paints ready.

Lightly paint your colors onto the salt.

We just barely touched our brush to the salt and watched as the salt absorbed the color into it! It helps if your brush is totally saturated with water and color.

Let dry completely, then lightly spray with hairspray to make your creation last longer!