Take a nature walk and collect materials to create a suncatcher!
MATERIALS
- Paper plate
- Natural items: flowers, leaves, sticks, etc
- Packing tape or transparent contact paper
- Yarn or ribbon
- Scissors
- Tape
- Optional: a basket or bag for nature walk; a crayon or marker for decoration
TRY IT!
- Explore your backyard or neighborhood and collect natural objects such as flowers, leaves and/or sticks.
- Cut a large hole in the center of the paper plate to create a frame.
- Cut and place the packing tape to cover the hole, sticky side facing up.
- Arrange what you found on your nature walk in the center of your plate on the sticky side of the tape / contact paper to make a design.
- Protect and hold your design in place by covering it with packing tape or the second square of contact paper, sticky side down.
- Tape a piece of ribbon or yarn to the top of the paper plate frame for hanging.
If you use the contact paper instead of tape, cut it into 2 squares just larger than the hole you cut out of your paper plate. Stick one of the pieces on the back of the plate, sticky side facing up.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
- What colors are the flowers you found? Do any of them have the same color?
- What shapes are the leaves you found?
- How many things did you collect?
LEARNING BEHIND THE PLAY
- Children learn important math concepts as they compare how objects are similar and different from each other.
- When you allow your child to decide where to place the objects on their suncatcher, it helps build their self-confidence by encouraging them to make their own decisions.
- Counting as well as naming colors and shapes helps to develop a child’s vocabulary.
TAKE IT FURTHER
Turn your nature walk into a scavenger hunt. Challenge your child to look for colors, shapes or textures while you are outside.