Make a “stained glass” window

Kiddley reader Kathy submitted this wonderful and simple craft activity a while ago now, and the same day she did I saw it being done on Play School… we tried it this afternoon and it’s incredibly easy with great results.

“One craft idea that we have found really popular with toddlers is Stained-Glass Windows. They are easy as pie and look beautiful when made. Alia has made several and Elizabeth, my 1-year-old, can now do them too, which makes her very happy! The two girls and I sometimes make cards with stained-glass front panels and it’s a lovely family activity.”

You will need:
Heavy cardboard
Cutting knife
Scissors
Clear sticky plastic contact
Multi-coloured cellophane
Glitter
Coloured markers

Before your toddler or preschooler gets involved with this activity, you will need to cut a frame out of your heavy card. Measure a smaller rectangle within the frame and then cut it out. The easiest way to do this is to this is to use a sharp cutting knife and cut through onto another heavy piece of card or use a cutting mat to protect your table top.

Before your toddler or preschooler gets involved with this activity, you will need to cut a frame out of your heavy card. Measure a smaller rectangle within the frame and then cut it out. The easiest way to do this is to this is to use a sharp cutting knife and cut through onto another heavy piece of card or use a cutting mat to protect your table top.

Now your child can decorate the frame using markers or whatever you have on hand. AJ decorated the frame first with markers and then added buttons and sequins.

Cut a piece of clear contact paper the same size as the frame and stick it carefully across the front of the frame. This protects the front of the frame’s artwork as well as creating a sticky backing.

Next cut a bunch of shapes out of the coloured cellophane. We discovered that the toddler scissors we have a hard time cutting through cellophane so an adult may have to do this stage also, but maybe we just need some new toddler scissors.

Turn the frame over so that the sticky side is up and let your child stick on the coloured cellophane and then add glitter.

If there is a lot of sticky contact still revealed when your child has finished, you may need to place another piece of matching contact over the cellophane artwork, sticky side down, creating a smooth (or in our case very uneven and bubbly), non-sticky seal which will keep off the dust and fluff.

Stick it in a window and admire the sun shining through! As Kathy suggested, you can also use this as a front of a greeting card. The Play School website suggests using these stained glass windows in a cardboard box play house.

Posted by Claire on Wednesday, June 21st, 2006 and filed under Arts & Crafts.

You can get alerts when we publish so you'll never miss a post.