Crafts: Corn Sun Catcher

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Materials

• Bubble Wrap
• Paint (yellow, red, brown, orange) 
• Sponge brushes 
• Construction Paper
• Glue

Steps

1. Create corn and leaf templates of desired sizes.

2. Trace the leaves from templates with the corn. Cut two leaves for each project (front and back).

They can be a little uneven because it creates a nice overlapping effect.

3. Paint the bubble wrap (if you haven't painted it for another craft). 

4. After the bubble wrap dries, cut out using your corn templates. 

5. Glue the corn and leaves together and allow to dry.
OR you can laminate them or use clear covering contact paper. 

There is a lot of prep work for a three year old.  Another child could do many of the steps themselves: tracing, cutting, etc.

I recommend creating different sizes if you intend on using them all in one window as decorations.

We did two laminated and I left two un-laminated.  Part of the reason why I wanted to laminate them was because the paint was chipping off the bubble wrap as I cut them.

When putting through the laminator, the picture makes a very satisfying pop-pop noise which sounds like popcorn popping.  If you do choose to use thermal laminating pouches, only use one pouch per ear of corn.  Do not include other images with it because they will not laminate perfectly.  Warning! Also keep in mind that the laminator may be damaged because you are putting through an item that is rather thick. Using contact paper may be a safer way to create a lasting craft project.

This idea was inspired by Fall Craft - Corn Sun Catchers.

Fall Crafts for Toddlers 

Crafts: Corn Shaker

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To help celebrate the fall, we  made our own music shakers! 

Materials 

• Pringles Container (other other similar container)
• Popcorn Kernels 
• Paint (yellow, orange, red, brown) 
• Sponge brushes
• Construction Paper
• Bubble wrap
• Glue 

Steps

1. Paint the bubble wrap. 
2. Put paper on the bubble wrap and press down. 
3. While your child is painting, eat the Pringles chips. Or share them with the whole family at snack time on a previous day. 
4. Clean out the container.  I rinsed with water and let it dry. 
5. Put corn kernels in container. This is great practice for your little's fine motor development. You can use as much or as little as you like. You can also have your child put the lid on and take the lid off to see what type of sound he/she wants to create with it. 
6. Tape the end of paper you won't see onto container. 
7. Glue the rest of the paper onto the container. 
8. You can attach tape to both ends of the paper if you like for added security.
9. You can also attach tape onto the lid to keep it on when your child shakes it.  (I imagined corn kernels going EVERYWHERE!) 

My very first reaction to the completed project was that it was very loud as my son shook it.  As the popcorn kernels hit the metal bottom and then the plastic lid, it created a satisfying, but loud, sound that my son loved.

We painted the bubble wrap to create a 'corn' stamp.  I provided him with paint and sponge brushes and he decided to paint in straight lines on the bubble wrap.  He definitely was not interested in mixing the paint at all.  We used the bubble wrap on our corn sun catchers craft.

It did take about a day for the paper to dry (it will depend on how much paint your child uses for the craft).

Other ideas

You could also add pictures or stickers to the outside of the shaker for Halloween (if you do this craft in October), Autumn, or Thanksgiving.  Or your child could draw a face onto the shaker or glue on googly eyes and draw a mouth.

This idea was inspired by Music Crafts for Kids - Making Corn Shakers.