Christmas window stars

As Christmas approaches, we will all be looking for ways to prepare with the children in our care. This year more than ever, including children in the warmth, colour and light of the festive season seems important. Here’s a simple art-craft project giving children a chance to explore with colour and create a star-shaped decoration for the windows in your setting, or to take home as a gift.

Materials needed

• coloured tissue paper
• glue
• glue brushes (optional)
• sturdy translucent paper
• permanent marker

Instructions

1. Tear coloured tissue paper into small strips or pieces. Note that warm and light colours such as orange, yellow, pink or light green allow light to shine through most strongly.
   
   
2. Using a permanent marker, draw a large star shape on a piece of sturdy translucent paper. (I used grease-proof baking paper for this.) An adult may need to complete this step.
   
   
3. Cover a section of the star with glue using a glue brush or fingers. Diluting 1 part glue with 1 part water in a jar lid makes glue easy to spread and accessible for child’s glue brush. (Tip: have a damp cloth on hand for sticky fingers).
   
   
4. Press pieces of tissue down to cover the glued area, overlapping the pieces so that no white spaces remain.
   
   
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the entire star shape is covered with coloured tissue.
   
   
6. Brush more glue on top of the star to hold down tissue.
   
7. Allow to dry for several hours or overnight.
8. Press the star under a stack of books to flatten if necessary.
9. Trim excess paper around star shape.
10. Hang the finished star in a sunny window and watch the light shine through the coloured tissue.