DLTK's Bible Activities for Kids
Stained Glass Cross Craft
Use this as a craft you can hang in your window or make it as a card for a special friend.
There is an option at the bottom for younger kids,
instead of melting crayons.
Materials:
- waxed paper
- wax crayons (Crayola don't work as well as the cheap kind for this project, though they do still work)
- manual pencil sharpener (with a fairly large hole)
- iron, ironing board and scrap paper (white computer paper or brown paper bag)
- construction paper
- scissors
- glue stick
Directions:
- ADULT: Plug in the iron and cover the ironing board with scrap paper. Set the iron to medium (no steam).
- tear a piece of waxed paper that's square (or a bit longer than it is wide) and fold it in half. Then unfold.
- take the paper off some crayons and 'sharpen' them in the pencil
sharpener. Let the shavings drop onto 1/2 the waxed paper.
- Feel free to use 3 or 4 different colors.
- when you have a nice pile of shavings refold the waxed paper.
- Fold about 1/2 inch around all the edges so none of the wax leaks
out when you iron.
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- place the waxed paper containing the shavings down on the ironing
board and cover with more scrap paper.
- Iron for about 10 seconds. Peek and iron a bit more if
necessary. All the wax should melt. The longer you iron, the more
your colors will mix.
- Let sit about 30 seconds to cool.
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- Take a piece of construction paper and fold in half.
- Crease well
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- Fold in half again, but this time, don't crease it very much (the
less you crease it the better, but young children may need it creased
quite well)
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- Cut out a half cross shape. You can do this freehand or draw it
on for small children to cut out.
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- Unfold the construction paper and you'll find a 'card' type shape
with a heart through the middle of it.
- Put your waxed paper ("stained glass") into the middle and figure
out where you're going to position it. With a pen trace around a line
for where you'll want to trim the waxed paper. The pen won't make a
pen mark, but it will leave a white line on the paper.
- Cut out the waxed paper. Try not to fold it -- the wax will crack
if you do.
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This is a photo of us doing a heart,
but the process is the same
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- Open up the construction paper.
- Use a glue stick to trace around the heart shape on one side of
the construction paper
- Glue the waxed paper down.
- Trace around the other heart (on the other side of the
construction paper) and around the edges of the construction paper and
fold down so the waxed paper is sandwiched.
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Optional:
Thanks Geri for sending this in!
"Have the kids color a picture with crayons. They can color dark or light -
it doesn't matter but the darker sometimes looks better. They really do look
like stained glass pictures, especially if the picture had heavy black lines."
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Use crayons, NOT markers or colored pencils.
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Have a few bowls with a VERY small amount of cooking oil
and a couple of cotton balls in them.
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Have the kids flip the pages over and slowly and thoroughly
rub the cotton balls on the paper. (You'll see the paper turn transparent
and the colors come through).
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Put them aside to dry (usually doesn't take long)!
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Cut them out and either hang them as is with a hole punched
in them or framed.
Optional:
Thanks Terri for sending this in!
"I have done for this to make it more suitable for younger kids. Instead of
using wax paper and melting crayons..."
- Use clear Contact Paper and tissue paper pieces.
- Put Contact Paper piece sticky side up on the table (may need to tape it down).
- Let kids stick tissue paper pieces to the sticky paper.
- Cover with another piece of Contact Paper sandwiching the tissue in between.
- Frame with dark construction paper (with cross shape removed) as directed.
Printable version of these instructions
