How to Make a Colorful Leaf Sun Catcher with Toddlers

Inside: Toddlers love making this fall leaf sun catcher, and it’s a great way to strengthen fine motor skills. They add so much color to the window, too!

Fall is so colorful, so I always want to add more of it to our classroom.

We are lucky to have huge windows and I love being able to display the children’s artwork in them.

Especially colorful art work, like a fall leaf sun catcher.

This activity is not only easy and fun, but it’s also a great way to work on those fine motor skills, getting the hands and fingers ready for future writing.

👉 I’ve included a leaf template below to make this activity even simpler to assemble!

How to Make a Colorful Leaf Sun Catcher with Toddlers

Watch the video:

What we used:

Tissue paper squares

Contact (sticky) paper

Construction paper

Leaf template (available below)

Preparing this fall leaf sun catcher:

Cut a leaf shape from the construction paper. I used an X-acto knife so that I didn’t have to cut from the side of the paper to get to the leaf shape. You could also poke a hole with scissors to get the shape started and then cut the leaf out.

I then cut a piece of Contact paper a bit larger than the size of the leaf and placed it sticky side down on one side of the construction paper, completely covering the leaf shape.

Introducing the activity:

During circle time I read One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me! (This is a fun book that takes you through the seasons and the counting is a great way to work on simple math skills.)

I then invited the children to join me at the art table.

I had the sticky leaf paper ready to go as well as shallow containers of colorful tissue paper squares.

Just like when we made our rainbow sun catchers, I showed the children how to feel what part was sticky, and to then press the tissue paper onto it.

I showed them how to take one tissue paper square at a time, as some of the children wanted to put a handful on top.

This leaf sun catcher activity was a fun color recognition idea as well.

I would ask who had orange, who had blue, who had purple?

I encouraged the children to cover all of the sticky parts, but some chose to only put a few squares on.

It’s their artwork, so I let it be.

Once the children were finished, I took another piece of Contact paper and covered the tissue paper squares.

I then trimmed around the leaf, leaving a bit of construction paper as a trim.

We have 2 windows in our classroom, so I used a hole punch at the top of the leaf so I could hang them on suction cups with hooks. (I love these hooks for displaying art work in our window all year long!)

I also created a banner by hanging a rope across one of the windows and securing the leaves using clothespins.

I just love how the color shines through these leaves!

Free leaf template! Can also be used as a color sheet at your writing center:

More leaf activities:

🍎 Planning your fall theme? We’ve done the work for you! 🍎