Chinese New Year crafts Kids crafts tutorial

Chinese lantern sun catcher

Chinese lantern sun catcher

My children love to make sun catchers. They are so quick and easy to set up and they are my go to craft if one of them asks to make something and I don’t want to think about it too much.

With Chinese New Year around the corner I set up a sweet Chinese lantern sun catcher activity for my 3 year old daughter yesterday.

Material needed to make a Chinese lantern sun catcher:
Paper
Scissors
Cellophane squares
Contact paper

How to make a Chinese lantern sun catcher:

First draw your Chinese lantern. I drew mine with a black Sharpie on a piece of white paper but it might be easier to draw on black paper and cut it out. Make sure you leave lots of spaces to fill with colour.

Chinese lantern

I cut pieces of red cellophane into small pieces and placed the Chinese lantern on a piece of contact paper.Chinese lantern activityMy daughter loves contact paper and when she wasn’t sticking her hands all over it she carefully placed pieces of cellophane into the gaps. When she had filled all the spaces we placed another piece of contact paper over it to seal it. Then I cut round the lantern to remove any extra pieces.

Chinese lantern activityWe love our Chinese lantern and have hung it up in the window. I think it’s calling out for some tassles so I’m going to have to look for some ribbons to add to the bottom.

Chinese lantern sun catcher

I am linking up this post with some other parent bloggers who are sharing some brilliant Chinese New Year crafts:

CNYPPRed1

Chinese New Year Fortune God Mask from Witty Hoots, TP Roll Chinese Lanterns from In the Playroom, Thumbprint Chinese Zodiac Craft for Kids from Fun Handprint Art, Cheese Chinese Lanterns from Danya Banya, Wool Painted Fans from Crafts on Sea, Sheep Stick Puppets from Best Toys 4 Toddlers, Felt Shape Sheep from Mama Smiles, Sheep Letter Recognition from Something 2 Offer, Chinese (non firework) Firecrackers from Peakle Pie, Chinese New Year Card from Creative World of Varya, Chinese Dragon from Messy Little Monster, Paper Plate Chinese Dragon from Kiddy Charts, Dragon Painting for Preschoolers from Learning and Exploring Through Play, Bubble Wrap Sheep Craft from Multicraftingmummy, Chinese Dragon Dance from Study at Home Mamma and Chinese Zodiac Animals in Lego from Planet Smarty Pants.

Pin for later:

Chinese lantern sun catcher

40 Comments

  • Reply
    Emma
    January 13, 2015 at 10:14 am

    Oh how lovely and easy to make. This will certainly make baby sitting my niece muchos easier x

  • Reply
    Meimei
    January 13, 2015 at 10:53 am

    Aw this is so cute! And so easy to make 🙂 definitely going to be making one of these when my neices are next over!

    Meimei xx
    http://www.meimeisays.co.uk

  • Reply
    Kate Williams
    January 14, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    Love it! We’ve been making Chinese lanterns today too 🙂 Thanks for joining in with Tuesday Tutorials #pintorials

  • Reply
    Karen Bell
    January 16, 2015 at 2:04 pm

    That looks great, very pretty to hang on the window and lots of fun.
    Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids

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    Mihaela @ Best Toys 4 Toddlers
    February 9, 2015 at 10:40 am

    These suncatchers look beautiful!

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    Nicola- Multicraftingmummy
    February 9, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    A lovely way to brighten up your window. We ve been wanting to have a go at suncatchers for a while now but i ve been struggling to get some contact paper.

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    Janet Giles
    January 29, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    We loved this project but struggles with the cutting and such… finally we drew the lantern on the non sticky side of the the contact paper with a black oil pastel, then placed the drawing side down on paper so no color transfer. My student love oil pastel!

    • Reply
      jenny
      January 30, 2021 at 9:48 am

      I’m glad you found a way to make it work for you!

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