Stain glass-like candles

Holidays are around the corner and the children are already excited.  In our classroom we usually talk about four festivals of light:  Diwali, Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa.  Although we do a number of activities related to these festivals, there is one that I really love.  The “window/stain glass candle” is simple, but it’s absolutely beautiful.  Every year it makes our dark classroom (due to NY winter) look so much more colorful, warm, and pleasant.

Materials:

• Dark colored construction paper – I think black works the best
• Tissue paper cut in strips, about 1 inch thick
• Glue
• Scissors

Directions:

• Cut the construction paper down to the size you want it – we like 6x9 rectangles
• Cut out a candle shape in each rectangle.  Depending on the cutting skills of your students you could just trace the candle shape and have them cut it out (or any other shape you might want to use.)
• Put glue around the edge of the cutout. 
• Place different colored tissue paper strips horizontally until you have covered the whole candle shape.  Make sure you overlap a little in order to avoid gaps.
• Place a piece of construction paper with the same cutout over the tissue paper.  This step is not necessary but it makes the finished product look nice on both sides.
• Tape your window/stain glass candle on a window, preferably where the sun comes in.

                 

When parents or other people visit our room they always comment on how beautiful these look.  What’s great is that they look great both from inside our classroom and the street and they are so simple to make!