Nature Craft with Kids: Sun Catcher Wind Chimes

Sun catcher wind chimes by Wander + Art

As a mom I know we always look for creative activities to do with our kids, so I thought I’d share this nature craft I did over the weekend with my daughter and son. I choose this project because it’s not overly complicated and it involves wandering through nature looking for interesting leaves and flowers, which is my favorite part! This beautiful sun catcher wind chimes can be easily hung on you porch on in your garden and can last for a while.

I got the instructions and inspiration for this craft from the Hands On As We Grow website, which has a great variety of resources for creative activities you can do with young children.

What do you need for this project?

• Mason Jar rings. We used 6 rings, but it can work well with as little as 3 rings.

• Acrylic paint and brushes.

• Marker.

• Contact Paper.

• Outdoor space to wander and gather leaves and flowers.

• Scissors.

• String.

• Tree branch.

What ages is this project best for?

Hands On As We Grow listed this craft for preschoolers up to elementary schoolers. I did this craft with my 4 year old who really enjoyed it and was fully engaged. I helped out when it was time to cut the circles and tie the strings. My 2 years old helped out when we went outside to wander and gather leaves and flowers for our sun catcher circles.

How long does it take?

Painting the Mason Jar rings takes ~30 minutes and will take a few hours to dry. We painted them one evening and did the rest of the project on the following day. If you skip this part you can do the whole project in an hour or less, depending on the amount of time you allow your kids to wander around and get the leaves and flowers for the sun catchers. In truth you really need a small amount, but it’s so much fun I recommend at least 20 minutes of wandering and discovering the beauty of nature.

The how to

1. Decorate your mason Jar rings

We used acrylic paint to decorate the rings. My daughter really enjoyed using and mixing the different colors. We left the rings to dry overnight and continued the next day. If you want to make the paint last over time, try using a varnish to coat the rings.

How many rings to use? That really depend on the size of the branch you have on hand. Ours was big enough to space out 6 rings, so that’s the number we went with. If you have a short branch, you can also try to space out the rings in a diagonal to fit more of them.

2. Draw your sun catcher circles

Using a marker and one Mason Jar ring, draw circles on contact paper, one circle per ring.

3. Wander

Go outside to your backyard, a park or any place where nature is present. Encourage your kids to wander around and gather small leaves or flower petals that you will later incorporate in your sun catchers. The wandering part of the project is so much fun and can take as long as you want.

This is a great opportunity to talk with kids about nature preservation and how we only take a small amount of what we need. For this project we used about 3 flowers and a few green leaves. 

4. Create sun catcher circles

Once you have your land source materials, peel off the back side of the contact paper you drew circles on, and start sticking the leaves and petals on the circles. 

When you finish, take a new piece of contact paper, the same size as your first one, and stick it on top of the leaves and petals, sealing them in between the two contact paper sheets. Since the leaves and petals have volume, press down on the contact paper to make sure they stick together as best as possible.

Once you are done, grab a pair of scissors and cut the circles out. When cutting the circles, don’t cut by the line you draw with the marker because that will not fit well into the rings. Cut on the inside of the circle and use one of the rings to try out the fit. 

To get the circles inside the rings all you have to do is push it gently inside and it will stay put. 

You can use glue if you want to make sure it doesn’t fall off, but wait with that until after you tie the string around the rings. Also, take into consideration that fresh leaves and petals will turn brown really fast and that you might want to refresh your sun catcher wind chime once in a while with new nature art. Using glue might make that a little more difficult.

5. Tie the strings

Start with tying the strings to the Mason Jar rings. Next tie the other end of the strings to the branch. If you want to get a symmetrical look, try to start tying at the middle of the branch and space it out evenly going from the center outwards, towards both ends of the branch. Last step would be to tie a string on both ends of the branch to create a hanging loop.

6. Pop in the sun catcher circles into the rings

The circles should slide right in and hold. If they don’t fit and you are having a hard time putting them in, try cutting them into smaller circles - not too much or they’ll fall through! This would be the time to use glue if you want to make the circles stay put. This could be a good solution if you’re planning on hanging them somewhere windy like your backyard.

And there you have it! Your own beautiful wind chime with sun catcher nature art!

Hope you enjoyed reading and making this project. Follow for more nature arts and crafts :)