Pumpkin Suncatcher Toddler Craft

N did his very first craft ever the other day!

Before this one, we hadn’t done a craft around here in quite a while! E hasn’t been in the mood and N wasn’t ready.

But now it’s fall and N is getting bigger, so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t sure at all that N would do anything but try to eat the tissue paper, but his Pumpkin Suncatcher Toddler Craft worked out great!

It’s similar to one of E’s early crafts, Tissue Paper Stained Glass Heart, that she did at 2 years and 3 months old.

(N was 13 months old.)

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Materials for Pumpkin Suncatcher Toddler Craft

Contact paper.
Tissue paper and/or napkins.
Black construction paper.
Duct tape.
Scissors.
Box to hold the tissue paper (optional).

When I gathered the materials for this craft, I realized that I didn’t have any orange tissue paper. I did have orange napkins, though, and I separated the layers until I had just the top colored layer. I cut away the textured part of the napkin, then cut the smooth part into large rectangular shapes, along with the yellow tissue paper.

You can’t see the difference between both materials in the finished craft {except for color, of course 😉 }, even though the back of the orange napkin layer wasn’t dyed all the way through.

With my tissue paper/napkin scraps ready, I cut a pumpkin shape from black contact paper and cut out the middle to make a pumpkin frame. I free-handed it, but you could find a template on Google if you prefer.

Finally, I duct taped some contact paper to N’s high chair tray to complete the set up for this activity. I’d learned from N’s Exploring Contact Paper activity and used plenty of duct tape this time 😉

I had the tissue paper in a box and handed the pieces to N one by one. He actually didn’t even try to eat them for the most part, but knew to stick them on the contact paper without much prompting.

Some went on straight, but most were scrunched as I’d expected. It was no problem at all.

N stuck on a bunch of tissue paper rectangles before he started reaching for the box itself. He’d already done way more than I’d expected and I had no problem handing over the box.

Most of the bits of tissue paper that were still in the box fell out, but he was able to grab a few and add them to his pumpkin suncatcher.

Just like his sister when she was little, he had fun putting the empty box on his head and looking through the transparent plastic. {Oh, who am I kidding, E still enjoys doing this today once in a while 😉 }

When he started running his hand over the tissue paper on the contact paper and pushing some of it off, I knew he was done with his craft.

Since the piece of contact paper wasn’t very big, I was able to pull off the duct tape before sticking another piece of contact paper on top. {I did tear the contact paper a little when pulling off the duct tape, all the way into the pumpkin frame, so be careful!} Finally, I cut out the pumpkin along the outer edges of the frame and stuck it in our window with a little sticky tape.

It just glows 🙂

N is absolutely pleased with his very first craft, too! He keeps walking up to it, pointing, grinning, and babbling up a storm ♥.

And guess what – when E saw it, she asked me when SHE can make her own pumpkin suncatcher 😉

Have you tried contact paper suncatcher crafts? Have you made a pumpkin suncatcher? What was your child’s first craft? Leave a comment below and tell me all about it!

If you have an older toddler or preschooler, try one of these pumpkin crafts:

Marbled Pumpkins

Thumbtacked Pumpkins

We’ve also done a couple of sensory activities with pumpkins that your kids may like:

Pumpkin Washing

Pine Cones and Pumpkins

Click here to subscribe to my newsletter and receive an email twice a week with news from our house and links to all new posts! If you prefer daily updates, you have the option of subscribing to my RSS feed or my printables RSS feed on the same page.

Join me in my Facebook group where we discuss simple play ideas for young kids every day!