The summer solstice—the longest day of the year—will be here on June 20th! This is a wonderful opportunity to teach your child about the solstices, learn how people celebrate the summer solstice around the world, and enjoy some beautiful summer solstice crafts together.

These summer solstice crafts include ideas for little kids and big kids alike. You’ll find ideas for celebrating the sun with summer solstice art projects, baking, table decorations, and more!

What is the Summer Solstice?

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. On this day, the sun is up in the sky for the most hours, giving us our longest day and shortest night.

As the Earth orbits the sun, it does so on a tilt. For half of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the sun, and for the other half of the year, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the sun.

When one of the hemispheres is most tilted toward the sun, it is known as the summer solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere, this happens around June 20th or 21st. In the Southern Hemisphere, this happens around December 21st or 22nd.

Summer Solstice Crafts for Kids

These crafts are perfect for celebrating the summer solstice with children!

Little Pinecone Bees – These little pinecone bees are one of the crafts from Seasonal Living with Littles. How sweet would they look as part of your solstice centerpiece?!

Summer Solstice Sun Weaving Craft by Busy Busy Learning – Weaving is a wonderful activity for developing fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination! For this beautiful sun weaving, all you need is some cardboard, scissors, yarn, and ribbon.

Summer Solstice Felt Collage by Kid Made Modern – What a beautiful felt sunset! Kids of all ages can practice their scissor skills by cutting strips of felt, then arrange and glue the felt strips into a beautiful sunset sky.

Cyanotype Solar Printing by Pretty Together – If you’ve never tried making a cyanotype print, this is your sign to give it a go! Any area of the paper that does not receive sunlight will remain white, while the background that was exposed to sunlight will turn a vibrant blue color. We tried this as part of our Sun Science Family Unit Study and absolutely loved it!

Summer Solstice Sun Bread and Window Star by Bella Luna Toys – How cute is that solstice sun bread!? While your bread is baking, you can use some kite paper to make a summer solstice window star.

Pressed Flower Lanterns by One Little Project – These flower lanterns would look so pretty as table decorations during a summer solstice party!

Colorful Sun Catchers by Apple Slices – Making a suncatcher is a wonderful craft for celebrating the sun! This rainbow suncatcher uses a piece of cut cardboard for the base with pieces of tissue paper glued in the rainbow arches.

Sun Collage by Unknown – I could not find the original creator to give proper credit—so if it’s you, let me know!—but it was too cute not to include! Older children could cut their own strips from scrap pieces of paper or old magazines. Or, for younger children, you could pre-cut strips of paper for them to arrange and glue as the sun’s rays.

DIY Flower Crown by Eco Friendly Mama – Did you know that flowers are thought to have magical properties when picked on the summer solstice? Eco Friendy Mama walks you through exactly how to make your very own flower crown!

Paper Flower Crowns for Kids by The Artful Parent – Weaving a flower crown can be tricky for little hands, but this paper crown version is the perfect solution! Even the littlest of crafters can stick flowers to the tape to make their own paper flower crown.

Make a Sundial by AstroEDU – While celebrating the sun, you can also learn how to tell time using the sun and a sundial!

Nature Mandalas – Making mandalas is very calming as well as centering. It’s also a great way to reconnect children with nature—perfect for a summer solstice activity.

Sunny Monoprints by Make and Takes – With just paper some paper and orange paint, you can make some sunny monoprints as you celebrate the sun. And when your prints are dry, they look super cute strung up as a banner.

Sun Wheel and Pom Pom Wands by Our Happy Tribe – Add a bit of sparkly magic to your summer solstice celebration with these sun wheel and pom pom wands!

I hope you found some craft ideas to incorporate into your summer solstice celebration! 

And if you want to incorporate more seasonal living with your young children, I invite you to check out Seasonal Living with Littles. It includes crafts and activities for every season, ideas for celebrating each solstice and equinox, and captivating nature tables for a quiet, reflective space. Take a peek!

Seasonal Living with Littles

https://shop.howweelearn.com/products/seasonal-living-with-littles

Thank you so much for reading, my friend,

xo
Sarah