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11 Jul

Homemade Nature Suncatcher Wind Chimes for Kids to Make

Crafts
Science
SpringPreschoolersGrade School

138 Comments

These are stunning suncatcher wind chimes the kids made that was inspired by our fun tin can wind chimes, mixed with our nature suncatchers.

I love a craft that is easy for the kids to do and had a pretty end result! Natural suncatcher wind chimes are both of those things.

Start out by getting the kids involved and active. Send them into the backyard or take a walk to collect find flowers and leaves!

We just went around the yard finding pretty colors of flowers and interesting leaves. We tried to keep everything small in size but didn’t limit to just that.

You could definitely make this part an entire activity in itself and do a scavenger hunt for certain colors, textures, or shapes. We always love a good scavenger hunt, and nature ones are classic!

Finding special things in nature is fun, but remember that a little bit will go a long way for this activity.

Searching for colors in nature to make nature suncatchers wind chimes

Once we collected our nature goodies, its time to set up to make a collage of it all.

Don’t forget the extra special part: these double as gorgeous suncatchers, too!

Homemade Nature Suncatcher Wind Chimes for Kids to Make

To make your found nature into wind chime suncatchers, you’ll also need:

  • Contact paper
  • Scissors
  • Marker or pen
  • Rings from Mason jar lids
  • String (we used hemp cord – affiliate link – but yarn works too)
  • A sturdy stick

Cut a small piece of contact paper and trace the mason jar rings onto the contact paper side (not the part you peel off). Trace as many as you have rings for.

Then peel the backing off the contact paper and tap onto the surface, sticky side up.

Setup for nature suncatcher wind chimes

This is where the kids get to be as creative as they’d like!

Hand over the stash of nature items they found and let them fill in those circles.

We found it very cool to peel apart the flowers if they were big. To have a petal instead of a whole flower.

Or if the flower was closed up or bell-shaped, we peeled it open to fan it out.

They made for some gorgeous suncatchers!

Nature collage for suncatcher wind chimes

Once their collages were complete, we finished off the suncatcher with another piece of contact paper over top.

Press them as flat as you can, sticking the contact paper wherever you can.

Nature collage complete for suncatcher wind chimes

Such pretty suncatchers already!

Nature collage complete for suncatcher wind chimes

Then we cut them out. Along the circles we traced.

Henry, my oldest who is 6, cut his himself. I went back over them to cut them a tad bit smaller though.

We traced the outside of the mason jar ring. So to fit in the ring, they had to be slightly smaller.

Cut out circles for suncatcher wind chimes

Then I tied a knot around the rings using the string we had on hand.

I simply pushed the suncatcher circles into the ring. We didn’t need to tape them, they stayed securely in place.

But I can see that you may need to.

I also tied the strings onto a stick to make them into a wind chime that we hung on our porch. Two actually, and I love looking at them!

Stunning suncatcher wind chimes the kids can make

I love the simplicity of the raw mason jar rings. But I also think it would be fun to spray paint them to give them color, too.

However, I plan to use the lids again at some point for my jars, so I didn’t want to “ruin” them at this time.

Nature suncatcher wind chimes hung up

The boys are so proud of their suncatcher wind chimes! They love them!

And the sound they make is actually quite pleasant peaceful. I was nervous it would be clanky, but it’s actually quite nice.

George with his suncatcher wind chimes - adore!

Nature suncatcher wind chimes to make with the kids

How do you use natural materials in your DIY craft projects?

More Hands on Kids Activities to Try

Reader Interactions

138 Comments

  9. Robin McMeekin says

    I am a retired school teacher getting ready to start a nanny job with a under 1 year old and 2 year old. Your website is such a treasure! I am SO excited to have fun with my two young boys! Some activities are perfect for development goals, others have given me some confidence on how to keep the 2 year old safely occupied as I prepare meals, and others are just right for just having fun together. YAY!

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  12. Helen Klein says

    We live on the west coast of Florida. Shells are our natural bounty and we make wind-chimes from them. Many shells already have holes in them to join with transparent thread or fishing wire. The shells don’t have to be whole. Small rocks and shells can be “wired” with thin gauge wire to hang them. Tie at varying lengths to a piece of driftwood or the inside hoop of an embroidery hoop. Enjoy!

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  21. Raul Roman de Alba Gonzalez says

    Salutations, I found this page and web-site to be very useful as it enhances the young minds creativity besides developing ideas with uses of recycled material. Hopefully the future will be filled with peoples inventiveness fulfilling the needs of one other.
    The area is filled with exercises that enhance the growth of waste materials which eventually will cover us all in the future as human-kind populates his environment. This area will become more and more useful to all educators, businesses, and industrial enterprises. It may be a manner to correct the problems of waste, economic circumstances, development, and social problems which all this wasteful and toxic ordeals develop as we go along. Our hopes are headed toward fashioning the entire concepts so that students, educators, and other areas alike will mainstream this all into an ordeal helping all people from all walks of life

    to Raul Roman de Alba Gonzalez" aria-label='reply to this comment to Raul Roman de Alba Gonzalez'>reply to this comment

  28. Jade Clem. says

    Hi Jamie!

    I’m working as a camp counsellor this summer and I’m in charge of selecting the crafts for kids. I would love to use this craft however I’m running into a bit of trouble. Considering our budget, mason jar lids aren’t really a possibility for us. I saw that someone recommended embroidery hoops but those are a bit pricey too. We need to have enough for about 25 kids. Do you have any recommendations for things we can use other than mason jar lids?

    to Jade Clem." aria-label='reply to this comment to Jade Clem.'>reply to this comment

  51. Sue says

    Be sure to tell people to get CLEAR contact paper! This is a fantastic crafts to do! For another type of rings, how about pieces of gold wire coat hangers, clipped, formed into a ring, and twisted at the top? This would be more along the Sun catcher line, unless you had a way to fasten the contact paper with the wire exposed. Perhaps two rings for each one, and the contact paper fastened in the middle? Still thinking about it.

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