Baby it’s hot outside! But instead of lamenting the fact, Travis and I are using the sun as our accomplice in art.

First, we made suncatchers. This is a craft we’ve done before but it never loses its luster. Use markers to color over coffee filters – the more colors the better! Spritz with water to bleed the colors together.

Once dry, we made paper frames by cutting rectangles out of white paper and taping around the filters. Place them in the window to catch the sun!

Then we headed outside with a long roll of craft paper to make shadow portraits. Have your child stand so that the paper catches their shadow (you might have to lay it down a few times before you get the right angle). Trace around the shadow.

Travis filled in his outline with a smile and clothes – all orange today!

I challenged him to draw my shadow next. This task was tough, especially because he lost his place when the sun went behind a cloud, but it was great tracing practice.

Finally, we returned to another oldie-but-goodie: sun prints. Place toys or other items on a piece of dark construction paper. Travis liked placing the items just so.

Wait a few hours, then check and see if the image of the items remains on the paper. The longer the sun bleaches your paper, the more pronounced the effect will be.

Thanks for helping out, Mr. Sun!