Make Your Own Nature Suncatcher

4/19/2024

Make Your Own Nature Suncatcher

What better way to celebrate nature than creating a sun-catcher with preschoolers they can hang and admire! Preschoolers love nature so much that they always want to bring it indoors. So why not let them? Nature is full of beauty and so many opportunities for exploration for curious little learners. A nature sun-catcher is an easy and fun craft that allows your preschoolers to use materials they found to make a masterpiece they can hang in their windows.

Creating artwork is an expression of their imagination and ideas, and it is essential for preschoolers to feel a sense of ownership over their work. A nature sun-catcher allows preschoolers to become involved in a step-by-step process of creating their art. They not only get to make the art but also handpick the components!

Sun-catchers are a favorite at PreK Printable Fun because they are not only easy to make but also an inexpensive craft that can be done with so many different materials you have on hand.

Materials:

Sturdy piece of thin cardboard
Clear packing tape
Flowers, grass, leaves, etc.

*Teacher tip: you can create similar outcome by using contact paper and a paper plate if you don't have the cardboard and packing tape!

Directions:

After you've gathered all of your materials start by using a pencil to trace a window opening in the piece of cardboard. Preschoolers will often want to help with this step so you can have them assist or give them a piece of paper to practice tracing at the same time.

Then carefully cut out the center of the cardboard piece to from a frame. Depending on your comfort level you can use heavy duty scissors an exacto knife to cut the cardboard.

For a different approach to this activity you can also use a paper plate but remove the center to resemble a circular window.

Your frame will look like this above picture.

Attach strips of clear packing tape from the back of the frame so that the sticky side of the tape is facing the front of the frame

After the tape has been secured, preschoolers will press the flowers, grass, leaves, and chosen items onto the tape.

We used fake flowers and petals for this particular activity, but it would be fun to take your preschoolers on a nature walk to find their own materials to include.

For an extension activity, you can take preschoolers on a color nature hunt where they have to find different specific colors to include in their sun-catcher—for instance, one green item, one yellow item, one brown item,etc.

Once your preschoolers have selected all of their flowers and leaves to include in their picture you can use the packing tape to close the frame. If you don't have packing tape or find that you like to work with contact paper- that works, too!

The outcome is so cool and a unique experience for each preschooler. You can hang this in your windows to let the sun shine through!