Winter paper lantern craft project using cool colors and winter skyline art

Explore light and dark with this winter paper lantern craft, using cool colors to create a winter skyline or geometric design.

 

 

Winter paper lantern craft project

In this winter art project we’ll explore tracing paper, cool colors, winter skylines, and abstract geometric patterns.

The lanterns are very simple to make, making this a great winter art project for all ages.

 

Materials needed:

:: tracing paper

:: pencils or marker pens

:: washi or sticky tape

:: battery-powered tealight candle

 

Things to talk about in this project

Art sparks conversations! We can introduce new ideas and vocabulary, and get ideas flowing, as we create. Here are some things you might like to talk about with your children as you work on this project:

 

 

How to make a paper lantern

Take a rectangular piece of tracing paper and draw your design.

You might like to create a winter skyline, with the dark, bare branches of trees, and shadows falling across the snow.

You might like to create a set of geometric shapes by drawing criss-crossing lines across you paper, and colouring in each space.

Very young children might enjoy scribbling and making marks all over the paper.

You can use pencils, marker pens, or even try oil pastels. You can experiment with blending colours together, and even layering pen on top of pencil.

We used a winter-inspired colour palette of cool colours: blues, white, grey and black.

 

 

Once you have completed your design, put a strip of tape along one short end of your paper.

 

 

Roll your paper around to create your lantern shape and hold it in place with the tape.

 

 

Add a battery-powered tealight candle in the centre of your lantern and admire how the light shines through your design.

Here’s how our’s look with and without the candles lit. First our geometric design:

 

 

And also our winter skyline:

 

 

 

More winter art ideas for your children to try

NurtureStore’s archive has many more ideas you can try with your children to explore the theme of winter, or to create different styles of lanterns.

Try one of these winter art projects to explore snow, ice, painting and making.

Make a different style of lanterns: jam jar lanterns, big paper lanterns, salt dough lanterns, paper house lanterns.

You can find our archive of winter themed math activities and literacy lesson plans here.