Pumpkin Sun Catchers

Make these delightful pumpkin sun catchers to brighten up your room for autumn and Halloween.

See Earth-friendly tips for this craft Earth-friendly tips for this craft

Materials Needed

  • Letter size or A4 transparency film
  • Letter size or A4 paper
  • Black permanent marker
  • Scissors
  • Clear liquid glue
  • Orange food coloring (or red + yellow)
  • Green food coloring (or blue + yellow)
  • Paint brush
  • Palette
  • Scotch tape

Pumpkin Sun Catchers

Safety Guidelines

  • Young kids (3 to 8 years) should use child-safe scissors.
  • Round out any sharp edges when cutting plastic film.
  • Watch out for this sign Ask for an adult's help. It means an adult's help is needed for the particular step.

Steps

Step 1 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 1. Print out this pumpkin template on Letter size or A4 paper.

If you want to skip the tracing step (Steps 2 to 6), you may print on the transparency film directly. However, check that your transparency is the printable type and that the film is compatible with your printer.
Step 2 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 2. Place a sheet of transparency film on top of the pumpkin print-out. Align the two sheets along the edges.
Step 3 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 3. You may tape the corners onto the table to fix both sheets in place.
Step 4 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 4. Use a black permanent marker to trace the outlines of each pumpkin. Color in the eyes and mouth on each pumpkin.
Step 5 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 5. Continue until you're done with all the pumpkins. Remember to shade in the eyes and mouth.
Step 6 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 6. Remove the tape and the template print-out from underneath the transparency film.
Step 7 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 7. Prepare your sun catcher paint by pouring some clear liquid glue onto your palette.
Step 8 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 8. Pour a few drops of orange food coloring onto a section containing glue. Pour green food coloring onto a separate section. Mix until the colors are well-dispersed. Test the color strength by painting on a small section of your transparency film. Add a few more drops of food coloring if necessary.

Remember that you can also achieve orange by combining yellow and red while green can be attained by mixing blue and yellow.
Step 9 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 9. Start painting on the pumpkins- orange on the pumpkin and green on the small stem. If you are doing this activity with toddlers and preschoolers, you may let them color in the stems with green permanent marker and paint on the pumpkin entirely with orange paint.
Step 10 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 10. Once you're done painting, set the painted pumpkin sun catchers aside to dry. They may take several hours to dry completely.
Step 11 Pumpkin Sun Catchers Ask for an adult's help11. Cut out the pumpkin sun catchers. The homemade glass paint is water-based so try not to handle the sun catchers with moist hands.
Step 12 Pumpkin Sun Catchers 12. Use double-sided tape to stick the pumpkin sun catchers on glass windows or panels.

More Ideas

Halloween Sun Catcher Mobile Make a pumpkin sun catcher mobile. See how it's done in our Halloween Mobile craft.

Earth Friendly Tips Earth Friendly Tips

  • Use homemade paint recipes (such as this sun catcher paint recipe) that are water-based and chemical-free as an alternative to commercial paint.
  • If you used our water-based sun catcher paint recipe, you can actually wash off the paint and use the pumpkins for another painting session or for next year's Halloween crafting.
  • The pumpkin template you printed out for Step 1 can be used as a coloring page or made into Halloween decorations for your home or classroom.