Heart Suncatcher Craft - Preschool Valentine’s Day Art

Create a colorful heart suncatcher craft with your kids using tissue paper and contact paper! This Valentine’s Day activity for kids is quick, fun, and the final piece is absolutely gorgeous every time.

Two young children are standing in front of a heart-shaped suncatcher taped to a glass door with blue painter's tape. The contact paper is covered with colorful tissue paper shapes, including hearts and squares. The children are adding pieces to the suncatcher, and bright sunlight shines through the door, illuminating the colors.

What is a heart suncatcher?

A heart suncatcher is kind of like the preschool version of a glass mosaic, minus the glass and the welding and the danger. 😂

To make these, we’re using sticky contact paper (which kids l o v e) and tissue paper squares.

This is the perfect opportunity to use some of the art tissue paper you have that somehow never runs out, gift tissue paper, or anything translucent.

❤️ We’ve got a whole collection of the best heart art projects for kids that you’ll love!

A close-up view of a young child adding a light pink heart-shaped tissue paper piece to a heart-shaped suncatcher made of contact paper. The suncatcher is taped to a glass door with blue painter's tape, and the contact paper surface is covered with colorful tissue paper shapes, including hearts and squares.

Why you’ll love this heart suncatcher

This activity checks all the boxes: it’s easy, inexpensive, and oh-so-cute.

It’s a great option for a rainy day, a preschool Valentine’s Day or love theme, or as a it’s-never-the-wrong-time-to-make-hearts activity.

And since it’s a process art project, the final result is precious and something you’ll definitely want hanging up for a while to admire.

❤️ Looking for more Valentine’s Day fun?

A bright pink plastic tray filled with colorful tissue paper shapes, including hearts and squares in shades of pink, red, purple, and white. These materials are ready for kids to use in creating their heart suncatcher craft.

Materials

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Two children work together on a large heart suncatcher taped to a glass door with blue painter's tape. One child adds a bright pink heart-shaped tissue paper piece to the sticky contact paper, while the other crouches down to grab more tissue paper from a pink tray.

How to make a heart suncatcher

On the non-sticky side of a piece of contact paper, draw a large heart outline. I added a face to mine because #moreismore, but a simple heart outline is equally darling.
Peel the backing from the contact paper and stick it to a window, sticky side out. (Pro tip: If it slides down while you’re taping it, just fold back the top corners for extra grip!)
Use tape to secure the contact paper to the window.
Invite kids to fill the heart shape with tissue paper squares. They can overlap colors to create a stained-glass effect.
Once finished, you can either leave it as-is, stick the heart suncatcher directly to the window (sticky side in), or seal it with another piece of contact paper to preserve it.

Three children collaborate on a large heart suncatcher taped to a glass door. Two kids are standing and placing tissue paper shapes onto the sticky contact paper, while a third child crouches down to collect more tissue paper pieces from a pink tray.

Creative ways to use heart suncatchers

Want to take this craft to the next level? Here are a few ideas:

Display your suncatchers in different windows around the house or classroom for bursts of color.
Explore using primary colored tissue paper (red, yellow, and blue) to observe the secondary colors (orange, green, and purple) made vs. “Valentine’s Day colors.”
Make a bunch of smaller hearts to decorate windows all around your home or classroom.
Invite kids to draw their own hearts and faces.