Valentine Sun-Catchers

I am so excited about a new art project that I put out this week.  It was in my head, but I didn't know how to set it up so the children could complete it independently.  While it does require a little more teacher assistance than what I would like, I am pretty happy with how much of this the children can do on their own.  And the finished sun-catchers are beautiful. 

I realize now that I should have taken a few more photos to illustrate this.  However, I'll try to explain thoroughly how I set it up and the steps of the project. Below you can see how I set up the materials on my stationary work table.  From left:  a basket of small pieces of "Valentine-colored" tissue paper, a basket with plain 6-inch squares of clear contact paper, a basket of 6-inch squares of clear contact paper with a heart drawn on them with a Sharpie marker, a little bucket with a pair of scissors, and an empty basket for garbage. 

To start this project, a teacher peels off the backing of a plain contact paper square and tapes the corners down on the purple placemat, sticky-side up.  Miss Carla discovered that if you peel the paper off two corners a little way and tape those corners down then the child can pull the rest of the paper backing off independently. This also prevents the corners from curling up............I tried to make the squares lie flat by placing them under heavy books over night but they still curl up.  (The paper backing is placed in the garbage basket.) Once the contact paper is taped down the child covers it with the little tissue paper squares.   

This photo shows a student placing the tissue paper onto the contact paper square.  Once they have the square covered with tissue paper a teacher then takes one of the contact paper squares with a heart on it and places it on top, sandwiching the tissue paper in the middle.  Again, we've found that it works best to start at the top corners, then have the child pull the backing off while the teacher smooths it down.  (Again, the paper backing is placed in the garbage basket.)  I didn't get a good photo of the next step, but now the child pulls the "sandwich" off the placemat and uses the scissors to cut out the heart shape, following the traced line.  The cut-off part is then placed in the garbage basket and the child carries it to the trash can to throw away.

The final step is to punch a hole in the top and add a loop of yarn for hanging.  Don't they look lovely? 

 

Comments

[Monarch]

Hello
My class also did the same art activity during early February. Only difference was we used wax/pastry paper instead and when the paper was dry and if they layered the tissue paper enough, they were able to peel it off so the paper got reused. It allowed them to do independently and in someway they learnt process and patience :-)

Thank you for sharing

[Laura]

Thanks for writing, Faith. Im glad you are finding useful information and ideas here.
Take care,
Laura

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[Faith Richards]

Sweet! I home school and my head is about to explode with ideas for my childrens next craft project. Thanks for sharing, I will surley be back around again and again!

[Laura]

Thanks for your comments, Emily.I love to put out holiday work because the children are so excited to bring home something theyve made by themselves that can be displayed during the holiday season. Thanks so much for writing!
Laura

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[Emily R-B]

Again, another great Valentine's Day work. I am truly inspired. I've never been able to come up with any sort of holiday art/activity that I could turn into a work to put on a shelf - thus, I almost never do any holiday art. Now I'm excited to think of all the ways I can give kids a chance to do holiday work in the future!

[Marla McLean, Atelierista]

Have you considered allowing children to create their own original shapes (throughout the projects you have planned), that represent something meaningful to themselves? They might be organic, and not so picture perfect, but consider the individual stories that might emerge.

[Leptir]

I have the same heart shaped basket. I'm using it for my math activities (I've post about it on my blog if you would like to visit)!

[Fiddler]

So inspiring--I'm printing out your entire post to take to the craft store. Thanks for sharing all of these wonderful activities!

[Mari-Ann]

We made some of these this weekend - so pretty, aren't they?! Love how you have this set up. :)

[Diane Aoto]

That's lovely!

I like that the red baskets are heart-shaped too :-)

[Karen]

I"m off to get some contact paper, so cute!