Today is the First Sunday of Advent and the countdown to Christmas has officially begun! This week my kinders created “stained glass” window decorations with tissue paper and contact paper in preparation for Christmas.
This is a simple and quick project that adds instant “pop” to my classroom decor and is a great visual reminder of our Catholic heritage.
The only supplies required are black construction paper, pink and purple tissue paper, clear contact paper, scissors, and a white crayon.
Project Preparation
In preparation for the project, I had volunteers pre-cut the following materials:
- tissue paper into squares that were (roughly) 1″ in size. We used seasonal Advent colors of pink and light purple, and dark purple
- strips of construction paper that were .5×12″ (one per student)
- black frames that resemble a window from sheets of 4.5×6″ construction paper (1 per student)
- 9×12″ sheets of clear contact paper (2 per student)
Creating the “Stained Glass Windows”
When we were ready to begin, 1 sheet of construction paper was placed on each child’s desk, sticky side up. I then placed a black frame in the center of each sheet of sticky paper (while children can do the rest of the assembling themselves, you will want an adult to do these 2 things, trust me).
Each student was then given a strip of .5×12″ black construction paper to construct a star. The children had to create their star by cutting the strip into 4 pieces: 1 long piece and 3 short pieces. To create a star, children first created a “t” shape in the center of the frame, then placed an “x” on top with construction paper.
Once the star was complete, students filled the frame with pieces of tissue paper.
We used white crayon to record student names on each child’s frame.
(Note: the side children have been working is actually the “back” of the window).
Once the frame was completely filled and names were recorded, a second piece of contact paper was added to the top of the project to hold all paper pieces in place. Each child then trimmed the excess contact paper from the edges of their projects.
The Finished Product
The Advent-themed “windows” look stunning in our classroom!
Managing it all
Wondering how I manage this project in my classroom? We did this activity whole-group. Clear contact paper and black frames were laid out while children had inside play time. Each table group shared baskets filled with tissue paper. A parent volunteer was also in the classroom to provide help and support! You can see my little angels hard at work.
Christmas Freebies
You can integrate the story of the first Christmas into your Language Arts lessons with this Nativity-Themed Interactive Sight Word Reader. It’s free to download on Teachers Pay Teachers. I always appreciate any feedback you leave after downloading.
After reading about the first Christmas, practice color words with my Color by Number Nativity page. This 8.5×11″ paper cuts in half to create 2 smaller coloring pages and allows you to conserve paper in your classroom. Visit my store on Teachers Pay Teachers to download this cute coloring page.
Have a blessed Advent season!
Check Out These Other Stained Glass Ideas
Looking for more window decoration projects? Click any of the links below to see my other stained glass creations that I’ve made with my kinders. They look beautiful on the windows and are very fun to make!
