Earth Sun Catcher

A simple introduction to the Mother Planet 

You will need:

• Coffee filters (you'll be working on the smooth, inner circle)
• Blue and green food coloring
• Earth pattern (optional)
• Plate

How's that Earth pattern working out for you, E?

How to:

1. The directions I found online for this craft stated that you should place drops of food coloring in the pattern of the Earth, green for land and blue for sea. I say go ahead and try just that and when you have finished laughing hysterically after your failed attempts, do this: 2 drops of green on each side of the filter and 5-6 drops of blue sprinkled along the middle. The drops will spread and meet up. It may not look exactly like Earth, but we are talking kid's crafts here.
2. Let dry.
3. Trim edges of filter so that only center circle remains.
4. Hang in a sunny window.

Thoughts:
Thanks to Wall-e and The Three R's song by Jack Johnson, Elliott is obsessed with recycling. Since Earth Day was approaching, I decided to introduce him to some Earthy crafts.

I still find it incredibly amusing that the original directions suggested placing drops in an Earth pattern. Next to impossible, even if you aren't three years old! We made several of these and only one semi-looked like Earth, but they all looked nice and even if not geographically correct, you could tell what the general idea was.

Elliott's Evaluation:
I love those because you hang them in the window.