Spin Art – Salad Spinner Scientific Art

I am all about adding art elements to science lessons and this science art STEAM project is a crowd pleaser for sure! Best of all, it works just as well at home as it does in the classroom. We’re going to make a bit of a mess, just like kids love, but don’t worry, I am going to share all my tips for keeping things contained for a quick clean up! This is a cool visual lesson in inertia, centrifugal force and symmetry and kids get to walk away with an amazing piece of art and the incredible story of how they made it with the salad spinner. Got your attention? Good, because you and the kids are going to love this one!

Salad Spinner Art Project

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The Science of Spin Art

Spin art is created through the principles of centrifugal force, inertia and Newton’s Laws of Motion. We have explored these science concepts many times in the past, but let’s do a review.

Centrifugal Force and Inertia

Centrifugal Force is the concept used to describe the perceived force that pushes an object away from the center of a rotating or spinning system. It is not a force in the sense that gravity is a force, but instead the result of inertia when an object is moving in a circular path. When an object moves in a circle, it wants to continue in a straight line because of inertia (the tendency of objects to keep doing what they are doing). However, the object is being forced to change direction, and the center of the circle is pulling it inward. To balance this inward pull, we often feel an outward push. This is what we refer to as centrifugal force.

When you put paint on a spinning surface (like our salad spinner), the centrifugal force pushes the paint outward from the center. This happens because the spinning surface causes everything attached to it, including the paint, to move in a straight line—away from the center—while the surface tries to keep it in place. The faster it spins, the more the paint spreads out in circular patterns.

Newton’s Laws of Motion

So how does Newton factor into all of this? Newton’s Laws of Motion help us understand how things move and why they move the way they do, which is really cool when we look at spin art!

Newton’s First Law is the Law of Inertia.

This law says that if something is sitting still, it wants to stay still; and if it’s moving, it wants to keep moving straight. When we put paint on a spinning surface, like a salad spinner, the paint wants to go straight out from the center because it’s moving. But the spinner keeps turning, so the paint ends up going around in a circle instead.

Newton’s Second Law the Law of Acceleration.

This law connects how much force is used, how much something weighs, and how fast it speeds up or slows down. In spin art, the spinner pulls the paint towards the center to keep it moving in a circle. This pull is a force called centripetal force.

Newton’s Third Law is the Law of Action and Reaction.

This law tells us that for every action, there is a reaction that is just as strong but in the opposite direction. In our spinner, while the spinner pulls the paint in (action), the paint pushes back out (reaction). This pushing out is what we feel as centrifugal force, and it’s why the paint spreads out to make cool patterns.

When you mix different colors of paint on the paper and spin it, the colors spread out and mix together, creating unique swirls and designs. Each piece of spin art is special because of all these forces at play, making each pattern one-of-a-kind! So let’s play with science and make some art!

Making Spin Art with a Salad Spinner

Now you understand the science you can probably see how messy things can get with spin art, but don’t worry, we have a really cool idea to use a salad spinner to contain the mess. And what did doesn’t love playing with a salad spinner?

What do I need?

Tempera Paint (or other water based washable paint)
Salad Spinner – You can often find these at local thrift stores if you are on a budget.
Small Paper Plates – Look for ones that will fit flat inside the salad spinner. You can also cut bigger plates to size. For added science, we tested coated and uncoated plates which each gave a different effect and a great moment for discussion.
Plastic Wrap – You may need this if your spinner has holes in the bottom for drainage. If it is solid, you won’t need wrap.

Directions

Let’s get to this art spinning machine. I love a good “Ahhhhhhh” moment from the kids – and this one is sure to deliver – every time!

If needed, cover the bottom of your salad spinner with plastic wrap to keep the mess contained. If your salad spinner doesn’t have holes in the bottom, you can skip this step.

Place the paper plate inside the spinner.

Squirt your tempera paints over the plate. I’ve tried both symmetrical dot placement of paint and random squiggles – the best and most interesting results were definitely the squiggles. They spread better and gave more interesting color combinations.

Put the top on your salad spinner and spin it 3-4 times and then let it stop on its own.

Open that spinner and reveal your amazing spin art!

Repeat as many times as you want. See below in Extension Ideas for ways you can also teach the scientific method with this project and do some more in depth exploration and learning.

The Results

Take time to look at the art your kids created. Talk about color mixing, note the straight lines that radiate from the center. Our observation was that the straight lines look like they are from when you first start spinning and then the color mixing is on top of it. What do your kids notice?

Compare the results from each attempt. What is different? What is the same? Now the big question: What do you think caused the different results? Consider taking notes so you can track how you changed things up for each attempt.

Extension Ideas

Applying the Scientific Method

The pre lesson about centrifugal force and inertia really fueled our post spinning talks. It’s a lot of fun to discuss the difference in each piece and what you think caused them. Experiment with more or less spinning, more colors, mix in some white, try on both coated and uncoated plates. Apply the scientific method and have your kids make a hypothesis and test their theories. For example: Before we started we talked about what difference having a coating on the plates would make with the art. Afterward, we observed that the coated plates (as expected) let the paint “slide” and mix more and the uncoated ones left a more defined and bright painting.

Book Study to Pair with Spin Art

This project would make a great cross curricular “Dot Day” activity to pair with The Dot by Peter H Reynolds.

More Physics Art

If you’re interested in mixing more art and science you should check out the fascinating physics involved in this Pendulum Painting project.

Play with Inertia

For a really cool experience with inertia, try making an Inertia Hat. It will have your student’s heads spinning!

Explore Newton’s Laws

To learn more about Newton’s Laws of Motion, try building this fun arcade style game or a Newton’s Cradle or try your hand at Balloon Races.

This spin art project would be great all year round – change the colors to match the season or theme of your lesson for the day. Happy creating and learning!