Planning some fun activities to celebrate Bonfire Night, ring in the New Year, welcome Chinese New Year or celebrate the 4th of July? These firework activities for kids are a brilliant way to explore colour, patterns and creativity through play.

From colourful salt art and firework-inspired play dough to sensory mark making and pasta crafts, these easy activities use simple materials you may already have at home. They're perfect for exploring together, building fine motor skills and creating your own colourful fireworks, whatever the occasion.

1. Salt Art Fireworks 

Salt art is a lovely way to explore colour and texture, and it works particularly well for firework pictures. Using black card as a backdrop makes the colours really stand out, while watching the watercolours spread through the salt is fascinating for little ones.

What You’ll Need:

• Black Card (paper isn’t recommended)
• PVA Glue in a squeezy bottle  
• Table salt  
• Watercolour paints or liquid watercolours   
• Paintbrushes
  

How To Play

1. Squeeze the PVA glue onto the black card to create firework shapes. Try drawing a central point with lines and curves radiating outwards.
2. Sprinkle salt over the glue until the shapes are covered, then gently shake off any excess.
3. Make your watercolours nice and watery, or use liquid watercolours. Dip a paintbrush into the colour and gently dab it onto the salt.
4. Watch as the colours travel along the salty lines, creating beautiful, vibrant fireworks! 
   

This activity is great for encouraging creativity, colour exploration and hand-eye coordination.

Top Tip: Once dry, the finished pictures can be quite delicate, particularly where lots of salt has been used. Handle them carefully or display them somewhere they can be admired from a distance!

2. Fireworks with Hama Beads and Play Dough 

Play dough is a wonderful resource for open-ended play, and adding Hama beads gives children a new way to create patterns and pictures while working on those all-important fine motor skills! For this firework activity, we used black playdough to represent the night sky and colourful beads to create our own exploding fireworks.

What You’ll Need:

• Black playdough Hama beads in a selection of colours
• The PlayTRAY lid or flat surface
• A pipe cleaner (optional, for making firework patterns)
  

You can make your own playdough using our Our Favourite No-Cook Playdough Recipe 

How to play

1. Roll out the black play dough to create your night sky. Our PlayTRAY lid provides a great flat surface.
2. Set out the colourful Hama beads in the PlayTRAY compartments and invite children to arrange them in firework patterns.
3. If you think your child needs a helping hand, bend a pipe cleaner into different firework shapes and press it gently into the dough to create a pattern for them to follow.
4. Encourage children to fill their patterns with beads, experiment with different colours or make their own fun firework designs.
   

The tools in our Sensory Dough Tool Set are also great for rolling, pressing and making marks in the play dough night sky!

Pressing individual beads into the playdough helps strengthen little fingers and develop fine motor control, while arranging them into firework patterns encourages children to explore colour, shape and spatial awareness.   

Tip: Hama beads are small and can pose a choking risk. This activity is best suited to children who are developmentally ready to use them safely, with close adult supervision. For younger children you could use coloured pasta instead

3. Firework Sticky Wall 

My girls love a sticky wall! It’s such an easy, adaptable activity that gives children the freedom to create without needing to follow a particular design. For a firework theme, a black background makes a brilliant night sky, ready to be filled with colourful craft materials.

What You'll Need:

• Black card or paper
• Sticky-back plastic (contact paper)
• Tape
• Craft materials such as pom-poms, pipe cleaners and paper stars
  

How to play

1. Secure the black card to a wall at a height children can comfortably reach.
2. Cover it with sticky-back plastic, with the sticky side facing outwards. Secure the edges with tape so it stays firmly in place.
3. Set out a selection of colourful craft materials. Our PlayTRAY compartments are perfect for this!
4. Invite children to arrange the materials on the sticky surface to create their own fireworks. They could make firework patterns, experiment with colour combinations or fill the whole sky with their unique creations.
5. When they're finished, carefully remove the materials and offer a fresh piece of sticky-back plastic for another round of play!
   

This activity inspires creativity while supporting fine motor development and hand-eye coordination. 

4. Firework Dot Art 

Cotton buds make a simple alternative to paintbrushes, allowing children to create colourful dots and dashes that look just like fireworks bursting across the night sky.

This is an easy firework art activity to set up at the kitchen table, and children can make their pictures as simple or as detailed as they like. Our PlayTRAY lid provides a great surface to work on!

What You’ll Need:

• Black paper or card
• Washable paints in bright colours
• Cotton buds
• A paint palette or small containers for the paint (our PlayTRAY compartments and silicone storage inserts make great paint pots)!
  

How To Play

1. Place the black paper on the PlayTRAY lid or a flat surface and pour a little paint into the PlayTRAY compartments or separate containers.
2. Show children how to dip a cotton bud into the paint and make dots on the paper.
3. Encourage them to start at a central point and work outwards, creating lines of dots to form a firework shape.
4. Experiment with different colours, sizes and patterns to fill the night sky with fireworks.
   

This is such a great activity for developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Using cotton buds encourages children to practise controlled movements, while making repeated dots and arranging them into patterns supports early mark making. 

For younger children who may need a little help, draw some simple firework outlines for them to follow. Remember, the process is just as important as the finished picture. Give children time to experiment, make their own choices and enjoy exploring the materials.

5. Firework Salt Mark Making 

The swirling patterns and radiating lines of fireworks make a brilliant starting point for mark making. Using coloured salt gives children a sensory surface to draw in, experiment with different movements and practise the early skills that support writing.

What You’ll Need:

• Salt Food colouring
• A little biodegradable glitter (optional)
• Brightly coloured paper or a glossy magazine page
• A shallow tray, like the lid of our PlayTRAY
• A mark-making tool - a paintbrush handle, pencil, small spoon or the stylus and sculpting tools from our Sensory Dough Tool Set.
  

How To Play

1. Colour the salt by mixing it with a small amount of food colouring. Add a little biodegradable glitter if you want some extra sparkle!
2. Spread the coloured salt out and leave it to dry before use.
3. Place a brightly coloured piece of paper inside your PlayTRAY lid. You can laminate the paper to help prevent colour transfer, or use a glossy magazine page instead.
4. Sprinkle a thin, even layer of coloured salt over the paper.
5. Invite children to use their chosen tool to draw firework shapes in the salt, making swirls, lines and little bursts of colour. Experiment with different tools to see the different marks they create. Children can use their fingers too, but they may get a little messy!
6. Smooth the salt over the surface to start again whenever they're ready for a new design.
   

Check out our printables page for more mark making activities to try at home with your little one!

Pasta and black bean fireworks

For a simple firework activity using everyday materials, try combining coloured pasta with black beans to create a colourful night sky. It's an easy way to bring sensory play and creative pattern making together and it looks so pretty! 

What You’ll Need: 

• Dry pasta
• Paint or food colouring for colouring the pasta
• Black beans 
• PlayTRAY lid or shallow tray. 
  

How to play

1. Prepare your coloured pasta in a selection of bright shades and allow it to dry completely before playing.
2. Spread the black beans across the base of your tray or PlayTRAY lid to create the night sky.
3. Set out the coloured pasta and invite children to arrange it into firework shapes, with pieces radiating outwards from a central point.
4. Experiment with different colours and arrangements, creating lots of little fireworks across the night sky.
   

Children can make their own patterns, copy a simple design or work together to create one big firework display – great for colour recognition and developing fine motor skills. 

Check out our blog: “How to Dye Pasta for Play & Craft Activities” for more ideas on how to use coloured pasta for play!

More Sensory Play Ideas for Little Ones

We hope these sensory play firework activities inspire you and your little ones to get creative together, whether you're preparing for a special celebration or simply looking for something fun to try on a rainy day!

Our PlayTRAY lid and compartments are great for arts and crafts activities, helping to keep materials organised while providing a flat surface for little ones to get creative.

Looking for more inspiration? Explore our blog for more simple sensory play ideas or follow us on Instagram and TikTok for fun activities your child will love!