If you love the great outdoors, chances are, so do your kids. The next time you take your young children on an outdoor hike remind them to pick up leaves and other flat objects from their trip. That way, when they get home, they can make a great sun catcher that will sparkle and impress. Little money is needed to make the beautiful sun catchers that will thrill children with their own creativity.
Although an adult must help kids with the final stages of the sun catchers the basic design is made by the child. All thats needed to make the unique sun catchers is some wax paper and a few flat objects. Some useful things for the design include leaves, sand, glitter, reeds or even confetti.
After the children have gathered the items they want to incorporate into their sun catchers they will arrange them on a table or other flat surface. Cut two pieces of wax paper. The wax paper should be slightly larger than the final design. Arrange the items on one piece of wax paper while you set the other piece aside for a moment. Kids can position the leaves and other items how they will. They can sprinkle the entire art piece with glitter, colored sand or even ordinary table salt. The sand, salt or glitter will add sparkle to the final masterpiece. There are many different ways to create the sun catcher. If a child doesnt have leaves and such he or she can cut an image from a coloring book or just cut shapes from foil with hole punches. There are no limits to the designs you make as long as you stick with flat objects. Consider adding pieces of colored paper, rick-rack, strips of tape, pieces of cloth, crayon slivers and other unusual items to the mix. You can make layers or just toss it all on the wax paper willy-nilly. When youre finished placing the items on the wax paper position the other piece of wax paper on top. An adult will then iron the wax paper using a towel under the sun catcher and another towel on top. Ironing the wax paper will cause the wax from the paper to melt and stick to the items in between. Adding crayon pieces further attaches the two pieces of wax paper together. The wax from the paper, as well as the wax from the crayons, creates the "glue" that keeps everything in place. After the sun catcher has cooled kids can then cut it into a particular shape. Cut it into a large triangle, square, oval or even a half-moon shape. Poke a hole in the top and tie a string to form a loop for hanging. The craft is simplistic, and looks like it, but you can make it much more impressive by adding a brass ring shape. The brass rings are found in different sizes and shapes, at any craft store and are very inexpensive. Brush glue onto one side of the ring and position the wax paper sun catcher on the ring. Allow to dry. If you want, you can glue a second ring on, on the backside, trapping the string loop between them. The brass rings make the sun catcher look much nicer. Dont have brass rings? Use shower curtain rings, cut the wax paper art to the proper size, and glue into the opening. Use a satin bow to cover the area where the shower curtain ring hinges. The bow will cover the hinge and will add a bit more charm to the sun catchers. Cut many of the smaller sun catchers and use suction cups to hang them all over a window. The wax paper sun catcher makes a great gift for kids to present to Teacher, Grandma or other relatives. Any child would love to make one and will be thrilled when they see how much the recipient loves the creation.
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