Enjoy the colorful spring sunshine!
Laying out flower petals and leaves is a very relaxing and fun way to explore color, patterns, and light. Children will love arranging colorful items they’ve found outside and then marvelling at how the light passes through them. This activity can also grow with the child, where they are free to get as detailed as they’d like with their stained art designs.
✂️ How do I adapt this activity for older kiddos? Extend this activity by having your child help with finding the flower petals and leaves around your home or neighborhood.
🌟 Books to explore: Set the stage for your activity with The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, Oh Say Can You Seed? by Bonnie Worth, or Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.
Materials
For this activity you will need:
Transparent contact paper or tissue paper
Flowers and leaves
Scissors
Hole punch
String
Tape
glue
Learning Outcomes
Domain
Cognition
Skills
Cause and effect Exploration
Indicators:
Focusing on light passing through the “glass.”
Instructions
Step 1:
Gather some flower petals and leaves from your yard or neighborhood. Try to choose only smaller to medium-sized items.
Step 2:
Cut contact paper out into a shape like a circle or square. TIP: if you don’t have contact paper then use tissue paper and glue
Step 3:
On one side of the contact paper, lay out leaves and petals. Encourage the child to get creative and try to create a unique pattern.
Step 4:
When finished, cover the design with another piece of contact paper.
Step 5:
Using a hole punch, create a hole in the “stained glass.”
Step 6:
Place a string through the glass and tie a knot.
Step 7:
Use tape to hang the design in front of a sunny window.
Step 8:
Watch as the light filters through the “glass!”
🟩 Choose your shape. Get extra creative by having your child draw a shape for you to cut out.
✂️ Get older kiddos more involved. Let older children cut out their own shapes or practice hand-over-hand, depending on their development stage.
☀️ Learn about lights and colors! Use this opportunity to explain how the light changes color when it passes through the leaves.
Playful Questions
What patterns can we make?
Do you think we will be able to see through the paper?
What color are the petals?
Where should we hang our stained glass?
What happens when the light shines through this?
