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Advent Window Decorations and Freebies!

December 2, 2012 Maria Manore Gavin 13 Comments

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.
Stained-Glass-Advent-Decoration

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.

Stained-Glass-step-1
Once the star was complete, students filled the frame with pieces of tissue paper.

stained-glass-tissue-papers
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).

name-with-crayon-stained-glass
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.

cuttin-out-stained-glass

The Finished Product

The Advent-themed “windows” look stunning in our classroom!

Finished-Advent-Stained-Glass-window-decorations

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.

class-at-work-on-stained-glass

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.

Who-is-with-Jesus-cover-pic

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.

Nativity-Color-by-Number-Cover-Pic

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!

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Freebies, Holiday, Religion Advent, Catholic School, christian, Christmas, Decorations, FREEBIE, Holiday, interactive readers, Kindergarten, religion, stained glass, window decoration

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Comments

  1. Jennifer Reck says

    December 2, 2012 at 11:15 am

    Thank you so much for these great ideas for keeping Christ in Christmas!
    Jenny
    Owl Things First!

    Reply
  2. a49erfangirl says

    December 2, 2012 at 11:54 am

    Thank you so much for sharing these printables. I love the stained glass idea as well! Happy Sunday!

    Reply
  3. butterfly wishes and wonderland dreams says

    December 2, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    love this thank you!

    Reply
  4. Cindy says

    December 2, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    Thank you for the wonderful activities and creative ideas. I know my Kinders will really enjoy and benefit from them. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  5. Annie Moffatt says

    December 3, 2012 at 2:29 am

    Oh I just LOVE this post, Maria! Your advent window decorations are beautiful! And I KNOW we will be using your freebie!! Thank you SO much, my sweet friend!
    The Moffatt Girls

    Reply
  6. Tracy says

    December 3, 2012 at 8:35 am

    Thank you for the freebie! I work at a Christian school and we are not allowed to do Santa activities, but focus on Jesus. This freebie is perfect!

    Reply
  7. ~DeAnne~ says

    December 5, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    This is just AWESOME!! thanks for sharing!!

    ღDeAnne
    First Grade and Fabulous

    Reply
  8. jennk71 says

    December 7, 2012 at 11:55 am

    As a teacher in a private Christian school that focuses on the real meaning of Christmas and can not use Santa (wow, run on sentence here or what?!?) I REALLY appreciate the Christain crafts, sheets, etc. that you post! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  9. Beadboard says

    December 8, 2012 at 9:56 am

    Wow! Love the stained glass window project. My Catholic Kindergarten class is really into pink & purple for Advent right now! This will look beautiful on our windows. Keep up the great work. There is such a need for fresh Christian early childhood ideas such as these. God is certainly blessing us with you! You are definitely my new “go to” lady! I”m trying to catch up with you on pinterest, fb, tpt, etc! I don’t want to miss a thing!! So glad you have a follow by email link! hugs, dear Maria!

    Reply
  10. Rhonda says

    December 11, 2012 at 4:06 am

    I LOVE this stained glass window craft. Thanks heaps for sharing.

    I love your blog, you have great ideas. I am your newest follower
    Rhonda

    Classroom Fun

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth Goold says

    November 27, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    Maria, I need a nativity scene for my class this year! Have you seen anything that would be great for kinder?
    Thanks!
    Elizabeth Goold

    Reply

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 Maria Gavin round Hello there and welcome!
I'm Maria Gavin - a kindergarten teacher, curriculum developer, educational blogger and founder of Kinder Craze.

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