Sun Prints Two Ways

The other day Big Brother was inspecting a newly paved road as we drove on it and became curious about why it was black and the other roads were gray. We started talking about how the sun and weather "faded" the roadway. The conversation inspired me to put together two different sun powered projects.

Sun Prints with Construction Paper

The first project used everyday household materials: construction paper and flat objects we collected from around the home. 

We placed the paper on our picnic table during the middle of a sunny day. Big Brother then laid out the objects he'd collected onto the paper. (I helped spell out the word FUN.) 

We left the paper and the objects on the picnic table for several hours. When we came back to the table Big Brother took the objects off the paper. The sun had faded the paper around the objects but left the place the objects had been dark. He was really excited about the images. 

After seeing how clearly the letters and number printed onto the paper I knew that another day we could do a really cool number and letter project using the same process. 

Sun Prints with Sun Art Paper

I used these papers as a kid and have always found the way they work pretty magical. I found this larger sized paper on Amazon a few years ago. As we had a second sunny day in a row, it was a perfect follow up to our construction paper prints. 

We again collected some materials from around our home and yard. Big Brother really wanted to use his new monster trucks. We also collected natural items. We laid them out on the paper in the shade. The natural items we placed under a piece of plexiglass in order to keep them in place. 

As the directions read, we left the materials set up for about 3 minutes in direct sunlight. When the paper turned a very light blue it was time to remove the items. 

The second step with the paper involves rinsing the paper in cool water. During this step the paper turned white and the images were dark blue. 

We left the papers on the picnic table to dry and as they did so the reverse happened: the background turned blue and the images turned white. 

And here's the part I always find really magical: in the end, when they were done drying, the background was dark blue and the images were white. 

I know we could probably look up why and how this sun print project works, but for now I think we'll leave the magic alone for both of us. 

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