Apple crafts are a great way to get kids excited about the change in season and they’re a great way to help them get them excited about healthy food too.
This apple suncatcher craft is a great cutting activity for preschoolers – I made these with my daughter who was three at the time and they’re great for kids to be able to display their artwork afterwards.
These would also be really good if you are doing a fruit and vegetable theme and as we love to match up a craft with a snack it’s a great excuse to eat some apples too!
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Suncatcher Apple Craft
These suncatchers will take a little bit of preparation from you but I found that it was definitely worth it for the enjoyment my daughter got and they’re a great craft for displaying as well.
Making this craft also encouraged a little chat with my daughter about why we were using both red and green cellophane for our apples, so I told her that was because apples could be both colors and popped out to get some apples from the garden to prove this.
Of course she then pointed out that our apples were more of a yellow color so we’ll have to include that next time too!
When you are making these suncatchers it doesn’t matter at all if the cellophane goes elsewhere as you can cut the apple out later. As well as laying the cellophane on flat my daughter also enjoyed scrunching bits up to put in her apple suncatcher.
Should You Use Tissue Paper or Cellophane for Suncatcher Crafts?
For all the suncatcher crafts I’ve made with my kids we’ve used colored cellophane rather than tissue paper.
We use cellophane because it’s really easy for kids to cut and the colours are really bright too.
Of course you can use whichever you have and whichever you’d prefer.
Tissue paper or cellophane, your child’s suncatcher will look great!
Cutting Activities for Preschoolers
Using scissors is something that all preschoolers need to learn but I found it much easier to do this in a fun way with my kids through crafts rather than using worksheets.
Another simple cutting activity I did with my kids was these paper bag haircuts which we made when my daughter was three and my son was six.
Like this craft? Make sure that you bookmark this page or pin an image for later so you don’t forget about it.
Free Apple Template
If your not confident with your drawing skills then you could also use our free apple template with this craft to help you get the outline for your apple.
Apple Craft Materials
- Scissors
- Washi tape
- 2 Pieces of contact paper (sticky back plastic)
- Colored cardstock – green and red
- Colored cellophane
How To Make This Apple Craft
Cut the outline of the apple shape from colored cardstock. We’ve used red for this but obviously you could use green too. Cut out leaf shapes from green cardstock.
Cut out the inside of the apple shape leaving an outline of a centimetre or two. This part is obviously for adults to do rather than younger kids.
Stick your contact paper down onto your table using washi tape to hold down each of the corners and remove the protective sheet so that the sticky side faces upwards.
Place your apple outline and leaves onto the contact paper.
Cut shapes out of your colored cellophane and place them all over the inside of the apple until it’s filled – or as filled as your child would like it to be.
Remove the covering from your second piece of contact paper and place this on top of your apple to seal the suncatcher in the middle of it.
Using scissors cut around the outline of your apple and leaves so that your suncatcher is ready to display. You can do this with a piece of double sided tape or carefully using a needle to make a hole in the top of it and then sewing a loop of thread through it.
How To Make a Suncatcher with Kids: Video Tutorial
I know that for me sometimes I find it a bit easier to work out how to see something if I’ve seen a video for it first and although I haven’t made a video specifically for this craft there is one for our pumpkin suncatchers which follow exactly the same principle. I’ve linked it to this page so you should be able to see it!
More Apple Crafts for Kids
My kids made these paper plate apples, they’re super simple and were really popular here too.
I made this pom pom apple tree with my daughter when she was a toddler, it’s a great way for kids to practice their fine motor skills too.
Obviously this is an activity that requires supervision but if you have a balloon left over from a kids party bag or something (I always seem to find them?!) then this balloon printed apple craft is certainly a different kind of printing technique!
Apple Suncatcher Craft
Equipment
- Scissors
- Washi tape
Materials
- Sticky back plastic (contact paper)
- Coloured card green and / or red
- Coloured cellophane
Instructions
- Start by cutting out the shape of the apple and the leaves from card, depending on the age of your child they can do some of the cutting too.
- Once you have your shapes ready tape your sticky back plastic onto your table sticky side up, I use washi tape to do this.
- Place your apple shape and leaves onto the sticky back plastic.
- Cut shapes out of the cellophane.
- Stick the cellophane shapes onto the sticky back plastic to make a stained glass effect in the middle of your suncatcher.
- Once you have finished using your cellophane put another layer of sticky back plastic on top to seal it and cut the apple shape out.
- To display it in your window you can use a needle and thread so that you can hang it or make a little circle of selotape so you can stick it directly on to your window.
Awww these are adorable, my kids love making sun catchers they look so pretty x
They are adorable, what a fab craft for this time of year. x
These are adorable. We have just picked our apples from our tree so would be a lovely craft to try with the kids
Oh these are so cute….think my youngest would enjoy making these! Might have to give them a go
That is such a simple idea but it looks really effective.
Thank you x
I did this with my daughter and she enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing!
So glad she liked it 🙂