Suncatchers for Kids to Make

May 9, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Whatever side of the world you are on, this time of year feels like a time when we need to soak up all the sun we can. Bring a little sunshine into your home or classroom with these suncatcher crafts kids can make. (They’d also be fun Mother’s Day presents or teacher appreciation gifts.)

If you’re making these at home and want to go the super easy route, you can buy a kit of Perler bead suncatchers, which has the peg board, pattern sheet and all the beads you need to make several suncatchers. They aren’t super see through but they are pretty to hang in a window. Or use the supplies you have to make designs of your choosing.

Speaking of supplies you already have, if you have a lot of pony beads you can also melt them down into a suncatcher using silicone molds or an old muffin tin. Check out the instructions from One Little Project (and as noted please do this with a toaster oven you can take outside since melting plastic fumes are nasty).

One Little Project has another pretty one done with flat glass pieces, which I feel like I have a ton of in my house so that would be an easy one for most people to do. If you don’t have glass beads you can easily find them at a dollar store.

Probably the easiest suncatcher idea here, and one that kids can do pretty much on their own, is this one using a coloring page from 100 Directions. As shown the pages are just printed on regular printer paper, but it might be fun to experiment with tracing the design onto tracing paper, parchment or even tissue paper to see how different kinds of paper allow the light through.

Another easy one involves going on a nature walk to make the sun shaped suncatcher craft from Fox Farm Home. These are so pretty with petals and grasses in them, but you could do a similar project any time of year with whatever relatively flat objects you can find outside.

These upcycled plastic suncatchers were made for Earth Day, but you can make them any time of year with different designs drawn on them. Use clip art as a guide or just let kids color them. Get all the details from Books and Giggles.

Pony Bead Suncatcher

Butterfly Suncatchers

Daffodil Suncatchers

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Perler Bead Projects for Kids

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Hibernating Animals Activities

I volunteer at my local library pulling holds for children’s books, and the other day someone was looking for Over and Under the Snow, a lovely picture book about animals that hibernate and those who don’t.

It reminded me that now would be a good time to talk about hibernation in the classroom, and what animals do to survive the winter more generally.

Did you know that technically only warm-blooded animals hibernate? When cold-blooded animals do it, it’s called brumation, and insects experience diapause. Whatever you call it, it’s a slowing down of bodily functions that allows animals to lower their body temperatures and slow their metabolism so much they don’t need to eat.

We Are Teachers has a great page about different animals that hibernate (or brumate, or diapause) and you can enter your email address to get a set of free worksheets perfect for middle grades. Education.com also has a downloadable worksheet about hibernation, and you can find many more (including the migrate or hibernate worksheet above) from Worksheeto.

Little Bins for Little Hands has a great free printable pack about hibernation and hibernating animals. There’s a good list of animals that hibernate in the post, as well as some FAQs about hibernation.

Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds has lots of great ideas for planning a hibernation theme, including making a cave in the classroom, painting on ice, and lots of ideas for dramatic play, writing and other activities (and there are lots of freebies linked there).

Little ones will love these bear hibernation hat printables form Books and Giggles that include facts about hibernation.

STEMHax has collected a bunch of lesson planning resources about animals in winter, based on the book Animals in Winter. You’ll find links to videos about different animals featured in the book that you can use when talking about the book or more broadly in a winter animal unit study.

The Wolfe Pack Den has a free printable unit study and ideas for books to read and other things to do (with a particular emphasis on hedgehogs, if you’re into that).

And to bring in one more book recommendation from when my girl was little, Bear Snores On is another fun one, and you can read that one and bring out all your fun bear activities, like this adorable hibernating bear craft from Krokotak.

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