Valentine's Day Stain Glass Hearts {aka sun catchers}!

A simple craft inspired by Valentine's Day.  This is a "go to" wet weather craft for us as it is quick to set up and occupies the kids for a while.  Of course you don't have to wait for a rainy day, the beauty of this craft is when the sun streams through the cellophane. 

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What do you need?
Contact paper (clear)
Scissors
Coloured cellophane paper
Clear sticky tape
Pencil

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What do you need to do?

• Draw some heart shapes onto the contact paper.
  
• Cut out the hearts.
  
• Remove the paper from the contact.
  
• Cut out pieces of cellophane paper (any shape and size). You may need to separate the cellophane so that you don't have multiple sheets stuck to each other.
  
• Fix the hearts to a glass surface (window, door) with the sticky side facing towards you. Use small pieces of sticky tape to attach to the glass.
• Let your kids place the cellophane pieces onto the sticky contact paper.

We love this craft for:-
* Pincer grasp - Your child can pick up the cellophane pieces between their index finger and thumbs.
* Pointing/Finger isolation - Your child can point and press on individual cellophane pieces or even feel the stickiness of the contact paper.
* Colour identification - Your child can identify the colours of the cellophane. You could provide matching coloured bowls to sort the cellophane paper.  Your child can see the affect of layering the cellophane paper and how this changes into a new colour. Your child may also observe the sun shining through the cellophane.
* Pattern making - Your child could use the cellophane to make patterns or pictures.  Miss 8 made flowers and love hearts within her picture. 
* Bilateral coordination - Opportunities for your child to use both hands in a coordinated way with cutting the paper, holding the bowl with one and using the other stick the pieces of cellophane.
* Doing activities on a vertical surface encourages shoulder stability, trunk control and wrist extension.  These are important for table top activities including handwriting.
* Structure - In some ways this is a "structured" activity as there is a beginning and end when the contact paper is covered.  This will suit kids who need a "goal" when doing a craft activity.  In other ways this is an "unstructured" activity as there is no right or wrong way to lay the cellophane onto the paper. It can be orderly or random. 

This craft is suitable for children from quite a young age.  Supervision is required for those toddlers (and older kids) who are like to "mouthe" things.  If your toddler has difficulty managing cellophane, you could try stickers, paper or even small pom poms.

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I'm planning on doing this "stain glass" activity with kids I see for therapy this week and turn them into cards to give to family.  We will work on the areas described above as well as incorporate some handwriting too!

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day?

Have your kids made stain glass pictures?

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