Suncatchers are a simple, yet beautiful way to decorate the windows in your house. There are many different DIY ways to create your own suncatchers at home. My favorite way is by melting beads in the oven to create colorful and unique designs! I’m sure once you see how easy these Melted Bead Suncatchers Apple Crafts For Kids are to make, they will become a favorite in your home too.
Small bead activities like this apple melting beads for kids activity are awesome for working on fine motor skills!
What Are Fine Motor Skills?
Why is fine motor practice important?
FINE MOTOR SKILLS ARE THE SKILLS THAT ALLOW US TO USE THE SMALL MUSCLES IN OUR FINGERS AND WRISTS.
Some examples of activities our fine motor skills help us do:
- Tying shoes
- Zipping up jackets
- Picking up small objects with our thumb and pointer finger
- Writing and coloring
Why Are Kids Crafts Great For Fine Motor Skills:
Activities like this melted beads apple craft idea for kids are the perfect way to help children strengthen their fine motor skills.
Crafts are great for working on fine motor skills because they typically require kids to use glue sticks, cut with scissors, or do other small movements with their hands and fingers that help strengthen their muscles.
Materials For This Melting Beads Craft:
Get the Supplies Here:
Don’t worry about making a special trip to the store. You can get all the supplies for this activity right here.
- Plastic pony beads
- Metal cookie cutters
- Baking pan
- Aluminum foil
- Drill fitted with ⅛ inch drill bit (optional)
Stainless Steel Cookie Cutter Set–Sandwich Cutter Fondant Cake Mold Biscuit Press for Kids (4 Pieces of Apple)500 PCS 9mm White Red 4 Color Mixing Brown Transparent Pony Beads for Jewelry Making for Bracelets Necklace Contains 5 Meters of String (Acrylic)If You Care Aluminum Foil– Pack of One 50 Sq. Ft. Roll – 100% Recycled Tin Foil Kitchen WrapCalphalon Nonstick Bakeware, Baking Sheet, 2-Piece Set
Expand your activity library with these amazing resources!
How To Make An Adorable Melted Plastic Beads Suncatcher:
Instructions For This Apple Suncatcher Craft:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare your baking pan by lining it with aluminum foil. This will make for quick clean up and will make it easier to release your finished melting pony bead project from the pan.
Place the apple shaped metal cookie cutters onto your pan.
Fill the cookie cutters with a single layer of pony beads. You can use various shades of red for the apple and green for the stem.
Use a toothpick or bamboo skewer to help arrange the beads into a single layer.
When you are ready for melting the beads in the oven, carefully place the pan into the oven. (If you have ever wondered can pony beads be melted in the oven, the answer is yes!)
After about five minutes start to check on your melted pony bead craft. It can take about 15 minutes to fully melt the beads in the cookie cutter, but the time can vary depending on your oven.
The suncatcher is ready to be taken out of the oven when the beads are melted and the holes in the beads have disappeared.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow the suncatchers to cool completely before trying to remove them from the pan and cookie cutters.
Gently pull the sides of the cookie cutter away from the apple suncatcher to remove it.
You can drill a hole in your suncatcher if you want a hole for threading ribbon through to hang your bead ornament.
Other Ideas For This Craft:
Use washable paint to paint a tree on on your window. Decorate the painted tree with your suncatchers and create an apple tree.
Give a Gift
This apple theme craft for preschool can make an adorable gift for a teacher to hang on their Christmas tree or in their window any time of the year.
Sort your beads in a muffin tin by color to work on color sorting and for more fine motor skill practice.
Our Favorite Apple Theme Toys and Books:
We can’t live without these!
Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun apple themed craft, take it a step further and create a full apple themed unit with these engaging resources:
Learning Resources Attribute ApplesWorld of Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Apple Play Set and Shape Sorter Developmental ToySkillmatics Newton’s Tree | Fun Family Game of a Tumbling Tree | Balancing, Stacking, Strategy and Skill Building for Ages 6-99 | Gifts for KidsTen Apples Up On Top!How Do Apples Grow?Pinkalicious: Apples, Apples, Apples!Apples, Apples, Apples