Making Leaf Shaped Sun Catchers: A Great Toddler or Preschooler Craft!

Just a few days ago, I saw a photo of a sun catcher on Instagram and thought it would be so much fun to make fall themed ones for my sons room. My son is still under 2, so I needed to make it easy enough for him to participate and enjoy it!

You need only a few items to make these:

• Laminating paper sheets (I always have these ones at home)
• Tissue paper in fall colors (the ones we used)
• Scissors
• String/thread (I used thread)
• Tape

For my son, I simply peeled off the back of the laminating paper and laid it on the floor. I gave him the tissue paper squares and showed him how to stick them on. So he stuck all of them to the sheet, covering almost all of it.

Once you’ve stuck your tissue paper in, grab another laminating sheet. Peel off the backing and lay it directly on top of the tissue paper side of the first sheet. Smooth it down as you go. 

We wanted to cut ours in the shape of leaves. You can freehand this, but I ended up making a leaf template to trace because I don’t have a super steady hand. I just googled leaf template for that and printed them out. I traced around the leaves, then my son helped me to cut them out.

Tie a string around the stem of each leaf (I also secured it with a piece of clear tape to make it hold up to my toddler). You can arrange them individually or in a garland across your window.

Enjoy!

Items used in this post: