Sun Art — The ‘Coolest’ Summer Craft for Kids

All you need for this fun summer craft for kids is the sun, items from your backyard, and special solar paper which allows the sun to transmit images into beautiful artwork. You can find the Sun Art Paper Kit HERE on Amazon. Sun is the most important part of this project, so make sure to pick a very sunny day for your project.

Getting Started: Go On a Nature Treasure Hunt

Grab a basket and search your backyard, or take a walk in your neighborhood. Collect items along the way such as flowers, leaves, branches, ferns, acorns etc. We even found a large feather along the way which was perfect for this project.

Arrange Your Art

Once you have all of the items collected, bring them inside. You must be out of direct sunlight when arranging your art on the paper. I suggest using a tray so that you can easily carry your art into the sun and back.

An acrylic piece comes with the kit to protect the paper. Lay out your paper blue side up, place the acrylic piece over the paper and place the items you want to arrange on top of the acrylic. Once you have your masterpiece put together, carefully carry it outside into a sunny spot.

Let the Sun Do Its Magic

There are different types of solar art paper. Some have a longer exposure time. This particular kit is perfect for kids because the exposure time is only 1-5 minutes, therefore they can see results quickly. After a few minutes in the sun, bring the artwork back inside out of direct sunlight. When you remove the items from the paper, you will see the imprint underneath where the sun cast a shadow.

Fill a bowl with cool water (I used a rectangle Pyrex dish) and rinse the paper for 1-5 minutes. The water washes away the unexposed iron molecules while turning the bound iron back to a blue color! What you have just accomplished is the very first film exposure process using the UV rays from the Sun. Pretty cool right?

Allow paper to dry completely, and then place under a heavy book to flatten.

Proudly display your Sun Art in some fun frames as a great memory of your Summer!

This project is fun, nature based and educational, making it a perfect summer craft for kids.

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Acorns are already starting to fall here in the Northeast! For another great craft idea, check out how to make Acorn Gems!

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