Flower Suncatcher

Wugs loves flowers.  I remember a time when he couldn't say "flower" and called it "fowwee".  Everytime we walked up the hill from the shops, he would insist on picking a little orange flower from a hedge that hung over the pavement from the condo next door.  Today we picked leaves and flowers all the way home and made this beautiful, flower suncatcher.  The inspiration for this craft came from this site.

What we used:
Paper plate
Contact paper
Scissors
Flowers and leaves

I cut out a circle in the centre of the paper plate and lay the contact paper (sticky side up) on the bottom of the circle, fixing the paper to the edge of the plate.  Then I placed the flowers in a separate dish for Wugs to decorate.  Once he was finished, I "sealed" the suncatcher flowers by placing contact paper on top (sticky side down) and fixed it around the edge.  (It's not necessary to seal the suncatcher in this way, but as I have a younger toddler who eats everything, I thought it better to seal the flowers inside).  Then I let the suncatcher do precisely that ... soak up the sun on our balcony doors.

Sun Suncatcher

I have been trying to build our activities around particular themes this year.  This month we were focusing on the sky and the weather.  As Wugs has just learned the word for “sun”, it felt appropriate to create a sun-shaped suncatcher. 

What we used:

Contact Paper

Coloured Transparent Paper (red and yellow)

Coloured Tissue Paper (red and yellow)

I cut up the paper into large squares and put it into the tub.

When we attempted this activity previously (see here), we attached the contact paper horizontally to the table.  This time I attached it vertically to the balcony glass door.  This worked much better as it reduced the chances of Wug’s hand and arm getting stuck to the contact paper.  I put the tubs of coloured paper on a chair near the balcony door and left him to play.  He engaged with it straightaway sorting out the tubs of cut up paper.  Although I offered him both yellow and red (anticipating that he would stick both to the contact paper and overlap to create orange) he seemed quite specific about only wanting the yellow coloured transparent paper on the contact paper.  He added to the contact paper over a number of hours (without any instruction from me) until his bath time when I took the paper off the door, backed it with a large sheet of tissue paper and cut out a sun shape.

Suncatcher

I have been longing to set up this suncatcher craft for a while, but I was afraid Wugs would pull the contact paper off the table or glue himself to it and get frustrated.  This activity was a testament to trying new things even if I expect them to end in disaster.  Happily it didn’t.

What you need:

Contact Paper

Coloured Transparent Paper or Coloured Tissue Paper (or both)

Black Masking Tape

I cut up the paper into large squares and put it into a tub.  Then I cut out a large sheet of contact paper and gradually peeled back the first 2 inches and glued them to the table (this can also be done on a patio/balcony door).  I pulled the rest of the backing off and glued the last two inches to the table.  Then I assembled the pots of paper around the contact paper.

It was during this activity that I discovered the importance of stepping back and giving my son freedom to discover colours and textures in his own way (even if that meant some mess in the process).  He enjoyed burying his fingers in the pot of paper and immediately showered the floor with them as if they were confetti.  Once he had finished, I put the paper back in the pot and showed him how to stick it to the contact paper.  He lifted the paper up to his face and peered through it viewing the room through the yellow colour, then the red and finally he began sticking.  

Once he had finished sticking, I used black masking tape to frame the contact paper and stuck it to our balcony doors.  It felt like a mini stained glass window on our balcony doors and a nice colourful addition to our living room.