Summer Craft #2: Sun Catchers

Submitted by kidspeak on Fri, 07/08/2011 - 07:49.

It’s summer! In Texas, the temperature continues to rise each and every day. As much fun as it is to be outside in the sun at the park, at Six Flags, at baseball games or in the pool, many afternoons we just want to hang out inside. Making sun catchers is a fun and easy activity for all children during those long summer days.

Materials

1. Clear contact paper
2. Tissue paper
3. Cookie cutters or stencils (Bed Bath and Beyond has a set of 100 cookie cutters for $9.99 http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=12474253)
4. Markers
5. Scissors
6. Tape
7. Visuals

Visuals
When using visuals, the goal is to focus on using the specific visuals (pointing to the pictures and verbally using the language) that help your child:

-Understand
-Attend to the activity
-Create joint attention
-Participate within the activity
-Use their social communication language (i.e., requesting: “I want the flower,” taking turns: “My turn to cut,” commenting: “Look,” etc.)
-Follow directions

Steps

1. Have your child tear the tissue paper in small pieces or cut the tissue paper with scissors. Both are great fine motor activities. Pick the action that is more difficult for your child in order to build up his or her skills. Start with the more difficult action and then move onto the easier action to ensure your child doesn’t get too frustrated.

2. Lay the contact paper out flat.

3. Sprinkle the tissue paper over the contact paper.

4. Fold the contact paper over.

5. Have your child pick out their favorite cookie cutters. Then have them trace around the cookie cutters on the contact paper. If they trace them along the outside of the cookie cutter, their sun catcher will be larger.

6. Next have your child cut out their sun catchers. If cutting around the lines is hard for your child, then draw a square around the cookie cutter and have them cut the square out and then you can cut the actual object out.