Materials
- paper plates (one per child)
- scissors or die-cut machine
- clear contact paper
- collage materials
- hole punch
- string
What to do
1. Cut out a large design from the center of each paper plate. Give a plate to each child.
2. For each child, cut two pieces of contact paper larger than the cutout design.
3. Help the children remove the adhesive back of one piece of contact paper and place on the plate over the cutout pattern.
4. Encourage the children to decorate the sticky side of the contact paper in the opening of the plate. Provide a variety of materials, such as colored sand, paper dots from hole punches, small pieces of paper, ribbon, yarn, glitter, confetti, and so on.
5. When children have completed their projects, help them place the other piece of contact paper over their creations to make a stained windowpane effect.
6. On the top of each plate, punch a hole and tie a string through to display.
More to do
Use this concept to create letter mobiles. Make sure to select letters that look the same forward and reversed. Use cutout hearts for Valentines Day, flowers for Mother's Day, umbrellas for spring, and so on.
-Bev Schumacher, Racine, WI
