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Make an Earth suncatcher

Make some tissue-paper versions of Earth, then hang them in windows to let them shine.

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You’ll need

  • Black card
  • Blue, green, yellow, orange, white and brown tissue paper.
  • Scissors
  • Sticky tape or sticky clear plastic
  • Hole punch
  • Ribbon
Circle Template
PDF – 128.1KB
Download Circle Template

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.   
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
  • Make sure there are enough print of the template for everyone.
  • Blue or green colours for water, such as seas, rivers, lakes and oceans. 
  • White, grey or blueish colours for the ice sheets and glaciers. 
  • White colours for the clouds.
  • Brown, orange or dark-yellow areas of land, which could be mountains, dry vegetation and deserts.
  • Green areas of land for vegetation, such as plants, forests, rainforests.
  • You might also see areas of shadow, such as near mountains.


Running this activity 

  1. Gather everyone around and explain that they'll be making a suncatcher that looks like Earth.
  2. Explain that from space the Earth looks like a sphere or a ball. About two thirds of the surface is covered with water, and the rest is covered with land. Water covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface. The most common locations are in oceans, rivers, lakes and glaciers (Source: BBC Bitesize, 2025).   
  3. Ask everyone what colours the Earth might look like from space. A globe is a model of the Earth and shows what it looks like from space. You could show everyone a picture of space from Earth or have a globe for people to look at. We have included information on what you might see on this page.
  4. Give everyone a sheet of black card to create a frame.
  5. Draw a large circle on the card and carefully cut it out. This is the outer edge of your frame.
  6. Next, trace or draw a smaller circle inside the first one. You can use a small bowl or round object for a neat shape.
  7. Cut out this inner circle to make a frame. It should look like an ‘o’ or a ring.
  8. Place the frame onto a piece of sticky-back plastic, smooth it down, then cut it out. Make sure to trim off any excess plastic around the edges of the frame. Alternatively, cover one side of the frame with strips of sticky tape, pressing them down to make sure they stick smoothly.
  9. Use the tissue paper to create the Earth design on a separate piece of paper. Tear or cut it into small pieces or shapes, such as squares, circles, or random jagged pieces. You can use blue tissue paper for oceans, green, brown or orange for land, and white for clouds or ice caps. You can layer them or overlap them to make the colours blend and look more natural.
  10. Once you're happy with how the tissue paper looks on the paper, it's time to stick it down onto the frame. Make sure to press the tissue paper down so it sticks to the sticky-back plastic or sticky tape.
  11. Once finished, you can now cover the entire front side of the frame with another layer of sticky-back plastic or sticky tape to keep the tissue paper sealed and give it a smooth finish. Make sure to carefully trim any excess plastic around the edges.
  12. Use a hole punch to make a small hole at the top of the suncatcher, and thread a piece of string or ribbon through the hole to hang it up. 

Reflection

This activity was all about what Earth looks like from space.  What do you think Earth looks like from space? What landmarks or things do you think you’d see? Making the Earth with tissue paper helped us see what astronauts might see from space or the International Space Station. How do you think you'd feel seeing that? What do you think we should do to take care of our planet? 

Think about your sun catcher. What colours did you use? Was it hard or easy? And did you find it fun? What was the best bit? Did you add any special features? What else could you add? What colours and things would you include if you designed a planet? 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Glue and solvents

Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Sharp objects

Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

  • To make this activity easier, you could cut out the circular frames for people to use. 
  • To make this activity harder, you could ask people to make other planets, such as Jupiter or Neptune. 

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Beavers Space Activity Badge
Beavers Creative Activity Badge