Suncatchers - Part 2

Last time I went to Joann's I was waiting in line to pay and saw more suncatcher kits in the dollar section. Parker liked the making the stars so much I went ahead and picked up a few more. These ones were made differently, though. Rather than painting the image, we would fill the small frame with tiny, colored plastic pellets and then bake it.

There weren't many images to choose from, so Parker picked out a monkey and a lion. We got a second lion for Kyle, in case he had some free time to play with us.

When Elise went down for her nap one afternoon last week, I got out the kits. I lined a cookie sheet with foil, set the frames on top and then we began filling them in. Parker started with the monkey while I made a lion. Kyle wasn't feeling well so I opened the third kit for Parker and he was happy to make that one, too.

He was very focused on filling the little sections....sometimes a little too focused on certain areas and I had to remind him to fill in the entire thing or parts of it would stay empty. So he kept adding more and more plastic pellets. And then some more, until his poor little monkey looked more like a mini mountain--all heaped up in the middle. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was too much, so I just hoped that it would all melt and even out in the oven. And it did!  :)

They had to bake for about 20 minutes. Another couple minutes to cool and then they were ready to come off the pan. They turned out great!  I hung them in the window next to our stars and called Parker out to see them. He was super excited to see more of his art hung up!

These are the best art kits for a toddler! They're cheap but include everything you need and they don't require any prep or cleanup. So I get to spend time with Parker making projects that he loves and is so proud of, but I don't have to worry about a big mess later. What more could a mom want?!  :)