Catch the Sun with "Stained Glass" Eggs

Using brightly colored tissue paper, your child can make “stained glass” eggs that look almost as glorious as the real thing! Heavy card stock, contact paper, and colorful tissue paper are all he needs to create this decorative springtime project. And, as he tears tissue paper into small pieces and sticks them to the contact paper, he will utilize his tiny hand muscles and hand-eye coordination.

What You Need:

• Colored tissue paper
• Plain self-adhesive liner paper or contact paper
• Construction paper
• Safety scissors or an exacto knife
• Hole punch (optional)
• Ribbon (optional)

What to Do:

1. Have your child draw a large egg on a piece of contact paper. This is going to be the "glass" in your stained glass egg.
2. Using safety scissors, have your child cut along the outline his egg making sure that he cuts the egg out in one piece. (An adult can help with this part if necessary.) 
3. Invite him to trace the egg you just cut from the first sheet of contact paper onto a second piece of contact paper, and cut it out, as in the first step. You should have two eggs cut out - both on contact paper.
4. Place one of the eggs you just cut from contact paper in the center of the construction paper. Have your child trace along the egg shape onto the construction paper.
5. Using an exacto knife, cut the egg shape out from the construction paper about a half an in smaller than the outline. This will create and egg shaped window in the construction paper. Be sure not to make any cuts on the construction paper other than on the inside of the traced outline so that the rest of the paper remains intact. (An adult should do this part!)
6. Peel the backing off one sheet of contact paper, and help your child stick over the egg-shaped window in the construction paper, so that the sticky side is facing up toward you.
7. Have him tear the tissue paper into small pieces. He will need a handful of each color. Use tissue paper in rainbow colors to teach or reinforce the mnemonic device often used to remember them, “Roy G. Biv”—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
8. Ask him to stick the tissue paper onto the contact paper, making sure that the pieces overlap and that there are no big empty gaps. Be sure to stay within the border of the egg window. He can make whatever design he likes. Don’t worry if the tissue paper gets crinkled or bunched up, it will still look great!
9. Once the egg is covered with tissue, peel off the backing of the second piece of contact paper and stick it over the egg shaped window on the side you just covered in tissue paper so that the sticky side of the second egg is down.
10. If he wishes, he can neaten up the edges of the egg by trimming the tissue paper with scissors.
11. Punch two holes at the top, and tie it with ribbon for hanging. Or, he can simply tape his stained glass egg directly onto a window. To fully enjoy the stained glass effect, make sure it's placed in a spot where the sun is often shining.