NASA Space Place Art Challenge! (original) (raw)

An illustration of a paintbrush painting a galaxy.

Do you love making art and using your imagination? So do we! Every NASA mission starts with a creative idea about how to explore something in a new way.

The art challenge:

In this new activity, we'd like to challenge young explorers to think about and draw a space-related situation each month. And after the month is over, we'll select a few imaginative drawings to be featured on the NASA Space Place website!

So, get ready to exercise that creative brain of yours! Here's what you'll need:

Paper
Art supplies (pencils, markers, crayons, paints – whatever you like to use)
A grownup helper with a camera or scanner and access to email

Note: We cannot accept artwork created with AI technologies.

Space Place art challenge prompt:

Our Sun has really been showing off in the past year! In October 2023 and April 2024, we had two chances to see types of solar eclipses — when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. Then, in May and October of this year, solar activities made beautiful auroras, or northern lights, visible to many of us in North America and beyond.

Green streaks of auroras arch over the dark Earth. A glint of white sunlight marks the curve of Earth in the horizon.

An aurora streams over Earth as the International Space Station orbited 273 miles above the southern Indian Ocean in between Australia and Antarctica. Image Credit: NASA/Shane Kimbrough

These events have been made even more spectacular by the fact that we are in the middle of a very active part of our Sun’s 11-year solar cycle!

The Sun touches us on Earth every single day. And it’s really important that it does! We need the Sun for light, heat, food, and about a million other things that are necessary for life. That’s why NASA scientists send missions to collect images and information about the Sun.

This year, to celebrate our closest star, NASA held celebrations with the public to share in the joy and curiosity of Heliophysics, or the study of the Sun and how it affects space. We called it the Heliophysics Big Year!

This month's prompt: How did the Sun touch you this year? Did you witness the solar eclipse or the northern lights? Did you enjoy a beautiful sunset at the beach? Did the Sun’s heat warm you up on a windy day? Grab your art supplies and creatively show us a memory you have of the Sun this year!

Get creative and submit your art before Dec. 31, 2024. Selected art submissions will appear on the website in early January!

How to submit your art:

Once you've gotten your ideas on the page, have a grownup take a photo or scan of the drawing and email the following to NASAKidsArt@jpl.nasa.gov:

Picture of drawing
First name of artist
Age of artist
Completed release form (download here)*

That's it! Have fun creating and we can't wait to see your drawings!

Last Month's Art Challenge Selections

Europa Clipper Art Challenge: What do you think you might find in the vast ocean underneath Europa's icy surface?