Lantern Making
As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, we can embrace the change in seasons by adding some light to our lives. Lantern making is a fun activity for kids and demonstrates adaptability and flexibility.
There are so many wonderful ways to create a lantern with children, from simple jar lanterns to colorful paper lanterns and beautiful leaf lanterns made with treasures from nature.
Here are three of my favorite lantern-making projects to try with your children.
Jar Lantern
Jar lanterns are one of the easiest lanterns to make and are a great choice for younger children. They also make a wonderful opportunity to get creative with color and texture.
Benefits: Flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving skill building
Materials:
Jar (mason jar or plastic jar)
Tissue paper
Liquid Glue or Mod Podge
Water
Paint brush
Tape
Twine (or ribbon or yarn)
Prep: Make a glue mixture with 25% glue / 75% water
Activity: Have your child tear medium size squares of tissue paper (this might be there favorite part of the activity). Let them pick which colors and then place each piece of tissue paper onto the outside of your jar and use a paint brush to apply the glue mixture. Repeat this step until your jar is completely covered.
Let your jar completely dry. Attach a handle to the lid, by taping twine to the bottom of the lid.
Leaf Lantern
If you love bringing nature into your art projects, leaf lanterns are a beautiful choice. This project allows children to collect their own natural materials and turn them into something they can carry on the lantern walk.
Benefits: Flexibility, creativity, and Problem-solving skill building
Materials:
Self-laminating sheets (or contact paper)
Freshly collected leaves
Hole punch
Ribbon (or twin or yarn)
Prep: Lay out your materials and practice opening a self-laminating sheet before hand, as these can be a bit tricky at first. Cut two pieces of clear contact paper to the size you would like your lantern to be, and cut another circle of contact paper or cardstock to use on the base of your lantern.
Activity:
Go on a leaf hunt! Take a walk together and collect a variety of small leaves. Look for different shapes, sizes, and colors. Make this an extra fun activity by following this at-home leaf hunt.
Arrange your leaves. Peel the backing from one piece of contact paper and place it sticky-side-up. Invite your child to arrange their leaves on the sticky surface.
Seal the leaves. Carefully place the second piece of contact paper over the top, sticky side down, pressing gently to seal the leaves between the layers.
Create your lantern. Attach the sealed leaf-covered contact paper to a cardstock frame or roll it into a cylinder.
Add a handle. Make two holes near the top with your hole punch and attach a colorful ribbon use as your handle.
Paper Lantern
These colorful paper lanterns are especially fun because children can create their own artwork before turning it into a lantern.
Benefits: Creativity and Fine-Motor Skills
Materials:
Watercolor paper
Watercolors
Paintbrushes
Water
Kite paper or translucent colored paper
Scissors
Glue or tape
Yarn (or twin or ribbon)
Activity:
Paint your paper. Invite your child to paint a piece of watercolor paper using bright or autumn-inspired colors. There’s no need for a particular design, let them experiment with mixing colors and making patterns.
Let it dry. Once the painting is completely dry, cut the paper into a rectangle.
Add kite paper. Cut shapes, strips, or windows from your watercolor paper and attach pieces of colorful kite paper behind the openings. The translucent paper will glow beautifully when the lantern is lit.
Form the lantern. Roll the paper into a cylinder and secure the edges with glue or tape.
Make a handle. Punch two holes near the top and attach a piece of string or yarn.
*A fun variation: instead of cutting windows into the watercolor paper, you can create a simple paper lantern using kite paper on its own. Layer different colors together and see what new colors appear when the lantern glows!
This is a wonderful way to introduce children to color mixing, transparency, and light through an open-ended art project.
I can’t wait to see what lantern you and your explorer come up with for our lantern walk!
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