How to Make a Sun Catcher Out of Crayons

Bored children can wreak havoc on their parents sanity, particularly when they are cooped indoors during inclement weather. This project will help you occupy the little ones while making pretty sun catchers for your windows.

The project is inexpensive and requires crayons in varying colors, wax paper, a cutting board or hard surface suitable for ironing on, a potato peeler and an iron. Because items such as a potato peeler and a hot iron are required I recommend that you supervise this project with older children and do those steps yourself if you have young children.

Begin the project by procuring the needed materials including crayons in as many colors as you would like. A big box of 16 crayons provides enough color variation for multiple children to make unique sun catchers. Lay one sheet of wax paper on a plate, cutting board, cookie sheet or other flat and portable surface. Use the potato peeler (or a cheese grater if you would like) to shave the crayons. You will need a lot of crayon shavings so if you have multiple children to prepare for you may need two boxes of crayons. Shave each crayon, making a separate pile for each color of crayon shavings. When you are finished place the shavings in a cool place so the wax does not melt prematurely.

After you have prepared the shavings lay out several small (approx. 5 or 6 inch squares) sheets of wax paper on a hard surface that is safe to iron on (such as a cutting board). If you would like you may use a marker or other medium to draw an outline on the wax paper for the children to follow such as circles, or even holiday theme shapes such as Christmas trees. You may also just allow the children to use their imaginations and make whatever shape comes to them.

Once you have prepared the wax paper, allow the children to go to work arranging the colored shavings of their choice into the shapes that they desire. When they are finished gently press on the shavings to flatten them out a little, then cover the shapes with another sheet of wax paper. Smooth the paper carefully to avoid scattering any of the shavings.

Next use a hot iron over each group of shavings to press the wax paper until the wax shavings have melted together. This is usually a quick process taking only a minute or two depending on how hot your iron is. Next use a knife or the end of the potato peeler to poke a hole through the top of the sun catcher. Do this step while the wax is still warm and make sure that you poke a hole all the way through the wax that is large enough for you to thread string or yarn through later.

Now all that is left is to wait for the wax to cool completely. This step is important though because if you remove the paper too soon the sun catcher will fall apart. I generally leave the wax to cool for 30 minutes. When you think that the wax has cooled, gently poke at the wax with your fingertip. If it gives at all you should wait longer.

Once the wax has completely cooled your sun catcher is ready to hang. Simply peel the wax paper off of your decoration, thread string or yarn through the hole you made and then hang the sun catcher in a sunny window.

This project is also great for any holiday if you provide, for example, green crayon shavings for Christmas or red, white and blue shavings for the Fourth of July.