Make lanterns from old jam jars

This is a simple activity that involves painting old jam jars to create pretty garden lanterns.

You will need: 

Jam jars

Acrylic or glass paint

Paint brushes

Tea lights

Making garden lanterns from jam jars

Make sure children are wearing an apron before doing this, as acrylic and glass paints are not always easy to wash out.

Paint your jars in whatever way you wish, it could be with little flowers or patterns or just in one colour. I did mine with a three and four year old, so we kept it fairly simple.

Kids painting jam jars to make garden lanterns

Once painted leave the jars to dry. When dry carefully drop in a tea light (or citronella tea light to ward off midges and mosquitoes) into each jar. Then as it starts to get dark they can be lit and placed throughout your garden or on your balcony or patio.

You can also tie some thin garden wire round the tops of the jars and create a handle over the jar so they can then be hung from trees or brackets. 

Making jam jar lanterns

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