Pentecost Stained Glass Craft

UPDATE: This article & freebie were originally written for Today's Catholic Teacher. Today's Catholic Teacher has stopped publishing their magazine and recently shut down their website. I've moved the article and freebies here so that you can still access them. Sorry for the confusion with old links that no longer work. Hopefully we have that all taken care of now.

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Teaching students about the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost can be tricky because there is not a tangible person for them to connect to in the same way they can with a human person like Jesus. Instead we talk about the Holy Spirit being represented by fire, a dove, wind, water or oil. 

This craft allows students to make one of those symbols, a flame, as a “stained glass” representation that creates a great window display as you prepare for Pentecost.

Supplies Needed:

White Cardstock

Black Cardstock or construction paper (8 ½” x 11”)

Contact paper or clear transfer tape (2 sheets about 9”x 12”)

Yellow, Red, Orange tissue paper squares (about 1” x 1”)

Scissors

Flame template/Come Holy Spirit Card (FREE DOWNLOAD HERE)

White crayon/colored pencil

Tape or Glue

To Assemble:

Print out the flame template on white cardstock for durability. Cut out the thick black lines of the flame template. Also, cut out the Come Holy Spirit card that is included on the template and save that for the end. Fold your black paper/cardstock in half vertically.

Set the flame template at the crease and trace it onto the black paper. Use a white crayon or colored pencil to make it easier to see what you are tracing. Cut out the flame that you just traced and open up your paper so the flame outline lays flat.

Take one of your pieces of contact paper or transfer tape, remove the backing and place it flat with the sticky side up. (Pro Tip: Either type of sticky paper will work, but I tend to prefer transfer tape. I’ve found transfer tape to be a little thicker and easier to work with. It doesn’t wrinkle up as much as contact paper does and you can often buy it on a roll that doesn’t have any backing to peel off. Either will work for this project though.) Then set your black flame outline onto the sticky paper.

Stick the colored tissue paper one square at a time to the sticky paper, staying inside the black flame outline. Keep adding tissue paper until there are no more spaces showing. The tissue paper can overlap or can be cut or ripped to smaller pieces if needed. Once the flame is full of color, take the second piece of sticky paper, remove the backing, and set it on top to seal in the flame and tissue paper.

Cut around the flame to remove the excess sticky paper. Tape or glue the Come Holy Spirit card to the bottom of the flame. Hang these Pentecost stained glass crafts in a window to let the sun shine through the colors of the flame for the full effect.