Suncatchers

We love making suncatchers, they are so pretty and effective. You can easily make them using natural found materials or recycled materials from around the house. We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to help the environment. So instead of chucking used packaging we like to find ways to use them in crafts and activities.

To make a plastic suncatcher you will need enough clear flat plastic packaging or some sticky backed plastic to cut into two identical shapes. These two pieces will form the front and back of the sun catcher.

Next collect as many flattish natural objects as you can find around to put in your suncatcher. You could use leaves, grass, bark or fallen flowers. *But pretty please don’t pick any wild flowers, only collect ones you have grown yourself or fallen ones you find on the floor.

Then paint a thin layer of clear glue over each sheet of plastic and then arrange the natural materials on top in any shape, pattern or position you like. Please note is you are using sticky backed plastic you won’t need any glue. When you have finished arranging the natural materials you can hen carefully sandwich the two plastic sheets together pushing them down firmly to hold everything in place.

Hold it up to the light or a window and voila your sun catcher is finished, it really is that simple. You can also add ribbon, wool or string to them to turn them into hanging decorations to place in windows, walls or hang them from trees. The suncatchers we made last year kept for ages as the flowers dried and preserved nicely.

You can also made suncatchers using old sweet wrappers. To make a sweet wrapper suncatcher simply cut a heart shaped hole into a piece of paper or cardboard to create a frame. Then glue or tape your sweet wrappers across the hole. We cut our sweet wrappers into strips to make a rainbow. But you could stick them in any shape order or pattern you like. For example you could make a stained glass window pattern or mosaic picture.

Or how about making ice suncatchers. Ice is a wonderful material for sensory and exploratory play. Its so easy to make and again you can easily add extra sensory elements like scented herbs, flavoured oils, textured natural materials and colours. To make an ice suncatcher you simply pour water and any additional sensory materials into different shaped and sized recycled containers to freeze and play with as ice blocks. This is also a great way to recycle any water leftover from sensory water play.

It’s fascinating to see the objects trapped in the ice. You can hold the ice up to the light or experiment melting or breaking the ice in different ways using warm water, tools or even salt (please be aware salt is harmful to plants and wildlife so please don’t use it outdoors). Or the children can have fun stacking and playing with the ice to make towers.