Tissue Square Suncatchers

Materials

• Tissue paper— red, yellow and orange 
• Scissors
• Newspaper 
• Styrofoam tray
• Liquid starch 
• Paintbrushes
• Wax paper 
• Black construction paper
• White crayons 
• Stapler

What to Do

1. In advance, cut out lots of 1" (2.5 cm) squares of tissue paper in each color, or let the children help you cut out the squares. Spread newspaper on the work surface and pour starch into Styrofoam tray.
2. Talk about the sun and the heat and light it generates. Tell the children that they are going to make suncatchers.
3. Give each child a 9" x 12" (22 cm x 30 cm) piece of wax paper and two 9" x 12" (22 cm x 30 cm) pieces of black construction paper. Set out a pile of colored tissue paper squares.
4. Have each child paint starch over half of the wax paper and lay on overlapping tissue squares to fill the area, then repeat on other half. Wax paper should be filled to 1" to 2" (2.5 cm to 5 cm) from the edge.
5. The children then paint over the squares with more starch. Let dry overnight.
6. Using a white crayon, each child draws the outline of a sun on one of the sheets of black paper.
7. Holding both sheets of black paper together cut out the sun from the center only, leaving the frame around the edges uncut. Insert the decorated wax paper between the two black frames and staple all three together. (Some children may need help with this step.)
8. Let children tape their pictures to the window to catch the sun.