Project Day 2012-Suncatchers

Each year, our county hosts a 4-H project day to make projects for the youth to exhibit at Achievment Days and State Fair. This year, our project day was in July (I know, I should have started this sooner, but I finally got a break from being completely swamped!). This was my first year being in chrage of the WHOLE afternoon and it was really exciting! Using Pinterest I found three awesome, easy projects that youth of all ages LOVED. Each was supposed to take about an hour, but the time varied for each one. I got pictures of most of the finished products and was excited to see them earn purple ribbons at both Fairs! Below you will find a description of one of the projects we did, complete with pictures!

Suncatchers
This project was another awesome easy one for kids of all ages. There is some parent help required, because an oven and possibly a drill is needed, but otherwise, its totally kid friendly! First off, I went to Walmart and bought foil pie pans. You could use whatever shape you want (cirlce, square, rectangular, etc), based on what shape you want your final suncatcher to be. We used the foil pans, as it was easier to get the final project out of for younger kids. I also went to Michaels Craft Store (in Sioux Falls next to Sam's Club) and purchased various colors of beads (I believe they were $4.99 a box). I purchased them from Michaels, because I couldn't find large, plastic beads, especially for this price, anywhere else. Here is a picture of what the boxes looked like.  

The first step in the project is to have the kids line the bottom of the pan with the beads. They can create any design they want, depending on the colors available. We had stripes, stars, and other various designs. In my sample, I just put beads in the pan, so I have a random mix of colors. After lining the bottom of the pan, put the pan in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes-or until the beads are all melted. As they melt, they will go together and create an awesome suncatcher. After the suncatcher has cooled down, flip the pie pan over, and the final project could come out. You might have to push it from the bottom, but it will come out in one piece. Then, you can use a drill and drill a small hole somewhere close to the edge and string some fishing line or similar string throught the hole as a way to hang it. That completes your project. Here is a picture of a suncatcher, without the string to hang!