This paper plate sun craft is so easy to make and is a perfect addition to any weather unit and also makes a great summer craft. Not only is it super fun to create, but it also allows for all kinds of fine motor and math skills practice too!

Follow our Summer Play & Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

 

 

*This post was originally published on June 9, 2014 and has sine been updated.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Fine Motor Sun Craft for Kids

Materials for Sun Craft for Kids

• Small, yellow paper plate (You can also use a white plate and paint it yellow!)
• Single hole punch (We used a 1/8 hole punch.)
• Yellow pipe cleaners
• Yellow straws
• Scissors
• Yellow tissue paper squares
• Liquid glue
• Optional: Sequins or jewels (We received our jewels from Craftprojectideas.com .)

 

Directions for Making Sun Craft for Kids

1. Start by punching small holes around the outside of your paper plate.

 

2. Cut your yellow pipe cleaners in half so they are about 6 inches long. Stick one pipe cleaner through each hole and secure the end by twisting it tightly.

 

 

3. Cut your yellow straws into small pieces. (Ours were about one inch in length.) We used both yellow plastic straws and yellow striped paper straws.

 

 

4. First you’ll be making the sun rays! Slide the straw pieces onto each pipe cleaner.

 

 

5. Once you are done building the sun rays, it’s time to decorate the center. We scrunched up yellow tissue paper squares into balls and glued them in the center of our plate. I love how the tissue paper gives it such a neat texture!

 

 

6. We also added some yellow jewels!

 

 

Tips

1. As with any craft or art project for kids, allow for child input and decision making. Lucy (my 6 year old) was so excited to make her very own sun craft and decided to fill it with all kinds of colored jewels rather than just the yellow.

 

 

2. If your child is ready for some math learning and receptive to it, you can use the straws and pipe cleaners to practice all kinds of math skills.

• Count how many straw pieces fit on a pipe cleaner.
• Create a pattern with your straw pieces on the pipe cleaner.
• Predict how many straw pieces will fit on your pipe cleaner and try it out. Was your estimate higher, lower, or equal to the actual amount.

 

 

3. If you don’t have any straws, use some tube-shaped pasta instead! Here’s how we dyed our own pasta and used it in a similar craft- Fine Motor Octopus.

 

4. This project can even be done together. My 6 year old loved helping her little brother make his sun craft!

 

More Summer Play Days

We’ll be back tomorrow with our next contribution to the Summer Play Series. In the meantime, be sure to check out all the creative summer play ideas from the other participating blogs!

Summer Art for Kids – Colorful Shell Sculptures from Fun-A-Day!

Summer Sunshine Clay from Nothing if Not Intentional

Toy Surfboard Craft for Kids from Play Trains!

Ocean Cloud Dough from My Nearest and Dearest