This Earth Day craft is a simple project for young students to make while introducing them to the structure of the Earth’s surface. While making these Earth suncatchers, students can work on developing important fine motor skills, counting, color recognition, and pattern skills. Once these suncatchers are complete, you will have bright and colorful artwork to display on the windows in your home or classroom! I love that each of these Earth suncatchers is unique!
To make this Earth Day craft, you will need:
- basket coffee filters
- baking sheet or tray lined with paper towels
- liquid watercolor paints in blue and green
- eye droppers or paintbrushes
- washable glue stick
Step 1 – Paint the Coffee Filter
Invite your students to cover a coffee filter with blue and green liquid watercolor paint.
Optional — You may want to teach students that 71% of the Earth’s surface is made up of water. The other 29% is made up of continents and islands. You can symbolize this by having students place the paint in a pattern of 7 drops of blue watercolor paint, then 3 drops of green watercolor paint, and repeating this pattern until the coffee filter is completely covered.
Step 2 – Allow to Dry
Allow the coffee filter to dry completely. Coffee filters are a great painting surface to try because they absorb lots of liquid paint without tearing!
Step 3 – Attach to a Window
Use a bit of washable glue stick to attach the Earth suncatchers to a window for a stunning display. When it is time to remove them, peel the suncatcher off and wipe off any remaining bits of coffee filter or glue with a damp sponge.
Here is a quick video to show the process of how to make this Earth Day craft:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jDlVLfZy7o?rel=0]More Earth Day Activities to Explore:
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- Turkey Hat Craft - November 5, 2019
- Pretend Play Pumpkin Pie Craft - November 1, 2019
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