Star Luminaries

Geometry meets Art with this beautiful craft from Europe and beyond

YOU WILL NEED

To print the template sheet
You will also need scissors, a glue stick and a LED tealight
Optional extra - a little cooking oil with a grownups help

Print out the plan and let's get creating!!

Laternelaufen - Walking with Lanterns

Did you know that not all countries celebrate Halloween? One country is Germany. The children here celebrate something else, on the 10th or 11th of November, and go on a lantern walk around their neighborhood with their school friends. (It is also celebrated in Iceland · Indonesia · Ireland · Mexico · New Zealand · Norway · the Philippines · Poland · Romania · Russia · Scotland · Serbia · Sweden and Ukraine.)

The long procession is traditionally led by a person on horseback and the children spend a long time making lanterns they carry around on the night and place in their homes to light their windows.

When the procession is over they share warm drinks and sweet bread around a bonfire.

The lanterns then add to the beautiful decoration into winter time.

As the children walk they sing, a little like carol singing. One of the traditional songs the children learn is below.

Lantern Song - Laterne, Laterne, Sonne, Mond und Sterne (traditional Germany)

Lantern, lantern, sun, moon and stars

The words sound fun don't they? - This is what it means...

Lantern, lantern

Lantern, lantern with the sun, moon and stars.

Burn my light, burn my light,

but please not my sweet lantern.

Lantern, lantern with the sun, moon and stars.

Block it from the wind, block it from the wind,

So it will last until we get home.

The children are hoping the candle doesn't burn their paper lanterns (they used to use real candles) and that the lantern protects the light from the wind so they can see where they are going and can get home safely.

Let's build

First of all download and print the template.

This is all you need to build it. You can choose to print it onto colored/ decorated paper or just plain white as I did in this example. It makes a beautiful gift as well!

Cut out all 11 5 sided shapes - Pentagons - The neater you cut them out the better it will look in the end

Fold corners on all 11 Pentagons (shown in step 1) this makes a smaller pentagon and when the corners are folded down there should be a star shape in the middle. Neatness and time improves the finished luminary.
Place your first pentagon, folded out, on a flat surface. This is the base piece and where the tealight will sit.
Now take 5 more pentagons and glue one folded triangle of each of the 5 pentagons around the first to form the star shape. Flip the whole thing over and glue the triangle flaps to the 5 pentagons to start their star shapes.

all 11 folded

this is the base piece flattened. This is where your candle will sit

5 glued around the base piece

4. Flip it back over again. Working around the 5 pentagons, slowly glue the folded triangles to the next pentagon shape. Slowly pulling the shapes together and forming the first stage of the luminary.

working round, gluing the triangles together

this is the first layer completed

5. Take the last 5 pentagons and fit these in the same way as step 3 in the gaps. Glue all the folded triangles to pull the shape together. You will be left with a pentagon opening at the top. The last five triangles at the top should be glued inwards.

6. (Optional) When the glue is dry, you can paint a thin layer of baby oil or cooking oil all over the shape to add to the transparent star effect but it is not necessary.

7. Place a battery operated tealight in the center, stand back and admire your work.

More Crafts are coming your way soon, keep your eye out and we will have more ways to collect craft-a-long packets and more in store to help you through this special year.

If you didn't collect all our Summer Craft-a-longs please visit the Craft-a-long section on the Chango PTA site and if you have any ideas for future activities please contact changoartsined@gmail.com or join us for one of our virtual PTA meetings

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