Wax Paper Suncatchers

Looking for a fun and engaging craft for Mother’s Day or to hang in your nursery that is super easy to customize for your style, all while being very inexpensive? This craft will not only engage your little ones, it’s also a great opportunity to talk about primary and secondary colors and work on building strength in little ones’ hands and fingers.

Step one: Sharpen old crayons and sort the pieces by color onto plates. We ended up using about six total crayons. My 4-year-old loved to sharpen the crayons and spent about 30-40 minutes on this part. As an adult, I only needed a few minutes to finish.

Step two: Cut a sheet of wax paper around 2-3 feet long, enough to fold in half. Place wax paper on old towel.

Step three: Spread crayon pieces across half of wax paper and then fold into half. This is a great opportunity to talk about mixing colors, primary and secondary colors. Feel free to make a pattern if desired.

Step four: Have an adult use an iron or a hair straightener to quickly pass over the top layer of the wax paper using the lowest heat setting possible. The crayons will melt in seconds. Please be advised the wax paper will be extremely hot. Allow the wax paper and crayons to cool down completely for several minutes before children are allowed to touch the art

Step five: Once artwork has cooled down, feel free to cut out shapes of your choosing to hang in the window or from the ceiling. We chose to leave our artwork in one larger piece, trimming down just the sides, and we hung directly in the window to look like stained glass!

Materials Needed:

• Old crayons

• Pencil sharpener

• Plates or similiar to hold crayon pieces

• Wax paper

• Iron or hair straightener (iron is easier)

• Scissors

• String or yarn

• Old towel

Janelle Cumro-Sultzer lives in Manhattan, Kansas, with her husband, soon to be three children and two dogs. Janelle is the owner of Flint Hills Mediation LLC and loves to focus on learning through play and getting messy with crafts.

Our commitment to do more for kids is at the heart of everything we do, down to each strand of DNA sequenced for genetic research. Together, we can help kids overcome whatever’s standing in their way. Learn more at childrensmercy.org/imagine.