Easy & Cheap “Stained Glass” Suncatcher Craft for Kids

Kids love glue and tissue paper and the opportunity to be creative. I’ve used this easy suncatcher craft idea with a Sunday school class of children of varying elementary ages. It’s easy and so, so inexpensive! The kids can do all the steps, there’s almost no prep work for you, and it might even be free because you probably have these items around your house. It also doesn’t take a long time, so little attention spans can stay on task.

This is a great craft for Easter and spring, or to brighten up winter windows.

What you need:

• Various colored sheets of tissue paper
• A clear or semi-clear item on which a child can glue the tissue paper
• A glue stick is recommended because a bottle of glue is going to get way too messy, especially since tissue paper is pretty delicate.
• A piece of ribbon or string to hang these up is also needed.
• Optional: If you’re using page protectors or other clear sheets, you may use 8.5×11 paper for a frame.

The cheapest (free), easiest option is a clear or semi-clear lid from a plastic container. In the following pictures, I used a lid from a whipped cream container. They are not completely clear, and it still works just fine.

Years ago, I used clear plastic sheets with a class. Anything that is transparent will work.

Page protectors (like you would use in a binder) are a great option.

A great bonus with page protector sheets is the option of adding a frame. You can precut a ‘frame’ out of regular colored or white 8.5×11 paper and slide it into the page protector sheet after the child glues the tissue paper on. Then the frame will showcase the tissue paper (hiding the edges) and look nice hanging in a window.

You can also add a frame if you use any transparent sheet. Just glue the frame on the opposite side of the glued tissue paper after the glue has dried.

Preparing for the craft: Do this first

For page protectors, cut off the edge of the page protector that is meant to go into a binder before the craft (without cutting the side open) and precut frames to slide in after the craft.

Prep work for whatever you use includes punching a hole to thread a ribbon or string through.

I used a hole-punch tool but for the lids it didn’t punch perfectly so I also used scissors to make the opening a tad bigger. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it only has to be big enough to get a string through. I do suggest doing this BEFORE the kids glue on there. It can be done afterward, but it will be easier if you do this before.

For page protectors, make sure you punch the hole on the top of the page protector where the paper slides in. Tip: slide the paper frame in and punch the hole so that the frame and page protector hole will line up.

For a classroom, other prep work may include adding the children’s names to the frames or edge of the lids so the rightful owner can find their artwork to take home when dry.

On the lids, you may add a ribbon or string for hanging before or after the kids add the tissue paper.

If you’re using page protectors with frames, you will have to wait to add a string until after the tissue paper is added because you have to slide the frame in before adding the string.

The Craft

A Note about the Tissue Paper

For lids, I think it’s easier for kids to lay the lid so that they are gluing the tissue paper in the indented part of the lid, but it really doesn’t matter either way. For transparent sheets or page protectors, choose either side and glue on just one side.

It doesn’t take much tissue paper, so you can use whatever you already have. Even used, crumpled, small pieces, or torn tissue paper works great for this craft.

I buy tissue paper at our local Dollar Tree where I can buy large packs of colored paper for $1.

You can buy as many colors as you want, but if you’re planning for a lot of kids or wanting to keep costs down, it’s not going to take a lot of paper to complete this craft. The equivalent of one sheet of paper will complete more than one craft, but of course, you want to use various colors on each one for a stained glass effect.

You can tear the tissue paper or you can let the kids tear off small pieces of tissue paper.

Glue

First, cover the surface in glue. You can use bottled glue, but you want to use it sparingly. Most kids, turned loose with a bottle of glue, will glue themselves, their neighbors, the dog, and the table. If your child has more control than that, or you can carefully supervise, a bottle of glue is fine. For a classroom full of children, I highly recommend glue sticks.

Bottled glue will have to spread out thinly – with a paper towel, craft stick, or your fingers.

Tissue Paper

Once your surface is prepped and ready, tear small pieces of tissue paper and apply over the surface. The tissue paper can overlap some and it doesn’t matter if the edges are not even close to perfect. It also doesn’t matter if each edge is not glued down perfectly flush. Of course, you don’t want big edges standing out or large areas overlapping, but for the most part, anything goes here and it’s pretty easy for kids to stick torn pieces on a surface. If there are gaps, tear little pieces of tissue paper and stick them in the gaps.

(If using sheets or page protectors and you want to add a frame, do so after the glue dries, gluing on the opposite side of the tissue paper on transparent sheets or sliding the frame into the page protector sheets.)

Add ribbon/string

Add the ribbon or string for hanging if you haven’t already. Kids will most likely have covered up the hole, so a pin or the end of a paper clip may be useful to punch through the tissue paper.

Enjoy your art

I promise this is a simple craft once you get started. There’s no wrong way to do this. This is a very easy suncatcher craft for kids. And children are delighted to see and use something beautiful that they created.

Allow the glue to dry and hang in a sunny window!

Tip: Hang with the glued side against the window.

Enjoy cheerful stained glass art! These look great hanging in the windows of your classroom or send them home for kids to hang in their bedroom windows.